From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sat Oct 1 22:24:01 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2011 22:24:01 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] =?windows-1252?q?Sunday_-_Zechariah_1_=96_4=3A?= =?windows-1252?q?6?= Message-ID: <4E87CB41.6010409@bibleseven.com> Sunday Zechariah 1 ? 4:6 Introduction 1:1 In the eighth month of Darius? second year, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows: 1:2 The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 1:3 Therefore say to the people: The Lord who rules over all says, ?Turn to me,? says the Lord who rules over all, ?and I will turn to you,? says the Lord who rules over all. 1:4 ?Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, ?The Lord who rules over all says, ?Turn now from your evil wickedness,?? but they would by no means obey me,? says the Lord. 1:5 ?As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever? 1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? Then they paid attention and confessed, ?The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.?? The Introduction to the Visions 1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month /Shebat/, in Darius? second year, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows: The Content of the First Vision 1:8 I was attentive that night and saw a man seated on a red horse that stood among some myrtle trees in the ravine. Behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. The Interpretation of the First Vision 1:9 Then I asked one nearby, ?What are these, sir?? The angelic messenger who replied to me said, ?I will show you what these are.? 1:10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees spoke up and said, ?These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk about on the earth.? 1:11 The riders then agreed with the angel of the Lord, who was standing among the myrtle trees, ?We have been walking about on the earth, and now everything is at rest and quiet.? 1:12 The angel of the Lord then asked, ?Lord who rules over all, how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?? 1:13 The Lord then addressed good, comforting words to the angelic messenger who was speaking to me. 1:14 Turning to me, the messenger then said, ?Cry out that the Lord who rules over all says, ?I am very much moved for Jerusalem and for Zion. 1:15 But I am greatly displeased with the nations that take my grace for granted. I was a little displeased with them, but they have only made things worse for themselves. The Oracle of Response 1:16 ??Therefore,? says the Lord, ?I have become compassionate toward Jerusalem and will rebuild my temple in it,? says the Lord who rules over all. ?Once more a surveyor?s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.? 1:17 Speak up again with the message of the Lord who rules over all: ?My cities will once more overflow with prosperity, and once more the Lord will comfort Zion and validate his choice of Jerusalem.?? Vision Two: The Four Horns 1:18 Once again I looked and this time I saw four horns. 1:19 So I asked the angelic messenger who spoke with me, ?What are these?? He replied, ?These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.? 1:20 Next the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. 1:21 I asked, ?What are these going to do?? He answered, ?These horns are the ones that have scattered Judah so that there is no one to be seen. But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah?s enemies and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.? Vision Three: The Surveyor 2:1 I looked again, and there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2:2 I asked, ?Where are you going?? He replied, ?To measure Jerusalem in order to determine its width and its length.? 2:3 At this point the angelic messenger who spoke to me went out, and another messenger came to meet him 2:4 and said to him, ?Hurry, speak to this young man as follows: ?Jerusalem will no longer be enclosed by walls because of the multitude of people and animals there. 2:5 But I (the Lord says) will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem and the source of glory in her midst.?? 2:6 ?You there! Flee from the northland!? says the Lord, ?for like the four winds of heaven I have scattered you,? says the Lord. 2:7 ?Escape, Zion, you who live among the Babylonians!? 2:8 For the Lord who rules over all says to me that for his own glory he has sent me to the nations that plundered you ? for anyone who touches you touches the pupil of his eye. 2:9 ?I am about to punish them in such a way,? he says, ?that they will be looted by their own slaves.? Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me. 2:10 ?Sing out and be happy, Zion my daughter! For look, I have come; I will settle in your midst,? says the Lord. 2:11 ?Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on the day of salvation, and they will also be my people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.? Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. 2:12 The Lord will take possession of Judah as his portion in the holy land and he will choose Jerusalem once again. 2:13 Be silent in the Lord?s presence, all people everywhere, for he is being moved to action in his holy dwelling place. Vision Four: The Priest 3:1 Next I saw Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 3:2 The Lord said to Satan, ?May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Isn?t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?? 3:3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood there before the angel. 3:4 The angel spoke up to those standing all around, ?Remove his filthy clothes.? Then he said to Joshua, ?I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you in fine clothing.? 3:5 Then I spoke up, ?Let a clean turban be put on his head.? So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood nearby. 3:6 Then the angel of the Lord exhorted Joshua solemnly: 3:7 ?The Lord who rules over all says, ?If you live and work according to my requirements, you will be able to preside over my temple and attend to my courtyards, and I will allow you to come and go among these others who are standing by you. 3:8 Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch. 3:9 As for the stone I have set before Joshua ? on the one stone there are seven eyes. I am about to engrave an inscription on it,? says the Lord who rules over all, ?to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 3:10 In that day,? says the Lord who rules over all, ?everyone will invite his friend to fellowship under his vine and under his fig tree.?? Vision Five: The Menorah 4:1 The angelic messenger who had been speaking with me then returned and woke me, as a person is wakened from sleep. 4:2 He asked me, ?What do you see?? I replied, ?I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top and seven lamps, with fourteen pipes going to the lamps. 4:3 There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the receptacle and the other on the left.? 4:4 Then I asked the messenger who spoke with me, ?What are these, sir?? 4:5 He replied, ?Don?t you know what these are?? So I responded, ?No, sir.? 4:6 Therefore he told me, ?These signify the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ?Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,? says the Lord who rules over all.? Oracle of Response 4:7 ?What are you, you great mountain? Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple capstone with shoutings of ?Grace! Grace!? because of this.? 4:8 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me as follows: 4:9 ?The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, and his hands will complete it.? Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. 4:10 For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes will joyfully look on the tin tablet in Zerubbabel?s hand. (These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.) 4:11 Next I asked the messenger, ?What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the menorah?? 4:12 Before he could reply I asked again, ?What are these two extensions of the olive trees, which are emptying out the golden oil through the two golden pipes?? 4:13 He replied, ?Don?t you know what these are?? And I said, ?No, sir.? 4:14 So he said, ?These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.? Prayer Lord, Your great plan is a unique new ?Jerusalem?, one without physical borders and one which has as its foundation Your truth. May I celebrate with a life dedicated to You what You have promised to those who are Yours. Summary & Commentary Zechariah was a peer of Haggai, he prophesied about 520 BC, during the reign of Darius in Persia. He was told to tell the rebellious people ?Therefore say to the people: The Lord who rules over all says, ?Turn to me,? says the Lord who rules over all, ?and I will turn to you,? says the Lord who rules over all.? Zechariah received several visions, the first was to explain that the prophesied time of seventy years of exile was about to end and Jerusalem was to be restored. The second vision was to explain that the four nations who had been allowed to serve as the instruments of the Lord God's judgment would now themselves be punished. The third vision was of the restoration of Jerusalem without walls due to the large numbers of the returning people, and a clarion call for the people to flee Babylon ahead of the Lord's judgment of it ? taking with them great resources. The fourth vision was of a high priest, Joshua [Jehozadak, identified in Haggai 1:1 and Ezra], who would lead the people in righteous living and worship, he would have a major responsibility, but was to recognize that he was a place-holder for ?the Branch? [the Messiah] Who was to come. The fifth vision was of the Word of the Lord to Zerubbabel that he would be His instrument to build the new Jerusalem: ?Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,? says the Lord who rules over all.? [The NET Translator's Notes explain that the ?two anointed ones? would have been Joshua and Zerubbabel as they were descended from king David and the high priest Aaron.] Interaction Consider The Lord God again calls to the people to choose to turn to Him and then He will bless them. Discuss How could the religious leaders have missed Jesus with all of the prophesy? Reflect The religious leaders who were supposed to serve the people for the Lord, to teach them of the coming messiah (the Branch), and to stand ready to step-aside when He arrived ? rather than cling to power and kill Him. Share When have you experienced a success that was clearly ?Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,?? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a moment in you life where He blessed you and it was ?Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,? Action: Today I will give praise and thanks to the Lord God for His blessings! Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Monday's text will be: Zechariah 4:7 - 6 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sun Oct 2 23:28:54 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sun, 02 Oct 2011 23:28:54 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Monday - Zechariah 5 - 6 Message-ID: <4E892BF6.1090400@bibleseven.com> Monday Zechariah 5 - 6 Vision Six: The Flying Scroll 5:1 Then I turned to look, and there was a flying scroll! 5:2 Someone asked me, "What do you see?" I replied, "I see a flying scroll thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide." 5:3 The speaker went on to say, "This is a curse traveling across the whole earth. For example, according to the curse whoever steals will be removed from the community; or on the other hand (according to the curse) whoever swears falsely will suffer the same fate." 5:4 "I will send it out," says the Lord who rules over all, "and it will enter the house of the thief and of the person who swears falsely in my name. It will land in the middle of his house and destroy both timber and stones." Vision Seven: The Ephah 5:5 After this the angelic messenger who had been speaking to me went out and said, "Look, see what is leaving." 5:6 I asked, "What is it?" And he replied, "It is a basket for measuring grain that is moving away from here." Moreover, he said, "This is their 'eye' throughout all the earth." 5:7 Then a round lead cover was raised up, revealing a woman sitting inside the basket. 5:8 He then said, "This woman represents wickedness," and he pushed her down into the basket and placed the lead cover on top. 5:9 Then I looked again and saw two women going forth with the wind in their wings (they had wings like those of a stork) and they lifted up the basket between the earth and the sky. 5:10 I asked the messenger who was speaking to me, "Where are they taking the basket?" 5:11 He replied, "To build a temple for her in the land of Babylonia. When it is finished, she will be placed there in her own residence." Vision Eight: The Chariots 6:1 Once more I looked, and this time I saw four chariots emerging from between two mountains of bronze. 6:2 Harnessed to the first chariot were red horses, to the second black horses, 6:3 to the third white horses, and to the fourth spotted horses, all of them strong. 6:4 Then I asked the angelic messenger who was speaking with me, "What are these, sir?" 6:5 The messenger replied, "These are the four spirits of heaven that have been presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. 6:6 The chariot with the black horses is going to the north country and the white ones are going after them, but the spotted ones are going to the south country. 6:7 All these strong ones are scattering; they have sought permission to go and walk about over the earth." The Lord had said, "Go! Walk about over the earth!" So they are doing so. 6:8 Then he cried out to me, "Look! The ones going to the northland have brought me peace about the northland." A Concluding Oracle 6:9 The word of the Lord came to me as follows: 6:10 "Choose some people from among the exiles, namely, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, all of whom have come from Babylon, and when you have done so go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 6:11 Then take some silver and gold to make a crown and set it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 6:12 Then say to him, 'The Lord who rules over all says, "Look -- here is the man whose name is Branch, who will sprout up from his place and build the temple of the Lord. 6:13 Indeed, he will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed in splendor, sitting as king on his throne. Moreover, there will be a priest with him on his throne and they will see eye to eye on everything. 6:14 The crown will then be turned over to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. 6:15 Then those who are far away will come and build the temple of the Lord so that you may know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God."'" Prayer Lord, You control the ultimate fate of all, and You will purge Your creation of evil and of the evil one. May I never doubt that victory belongs to the Lord. Summary & Commentary Zechariah was shown a sixth vision where the law of the Lord God was rhetorically traveling across the earth to destroy all that was in violation; the laws against stealing and swearing falsely in His name were specifically mentioned. The seventh vision was [from the NET Translator's Notes] of wickedness epitomized by a demonic counterfeit of divine omniscience and power, it was shown as symbolically-contained and relocated to a symbolic Babylon by two agents of the Lord God. The symbolic woman was to be placed in her own home there. A symbolic woman of Babylon appears in last days of end times prophesy. [From the NET Translator's Notes] the eighth vision was of chariots and horses which at that historic time represented Persia conquering Babylonia bringing a sort of peace to the region and therefore to the exiled Jews there. The "peace" has a parallel imagery in last days of the end times when the Lord God conquers all. Zechariah was told to create a crown and to temporarily place it on the head of Joshua the high priest as a symbolic representation of the coming "Branch" or Messiah. It was to be given to the four representatives of the people from among the exiles in Babylonia who would place it in the temple. People would come from many places to rebuild the temple, at the behest of Zerubbabel (and later Ezra and Nehemiah) in fulfillment of the prophesy. The fulfillment of this was conditional "This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God." Interaction Consider The Lord God was defining His omnipotence over all of creation, escalating the confrontation between the law and the law-breakers, isolating the powers of deception, and creating a pathway for redemption. Discuss Why would the religious leaders of the time of Jesus have missed Him given the clear evidence of the path to His identity an purpose? Reflect As with every prior covenant the fulfillment of this was conditional "This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God." Share When have you become profoundly aware of the hard boundaries of the law and that only Jesus saves? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place where you were deceived and now see clearly. Action: Today I will give Him praise for setting me free from the deception of the world. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Tuesday's text will be: Zechariah 7 -- 8 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Mon Oct 3 21:25:31 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:25:31 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] =?windows-1252?q?Tuesday_-_Zechariah_7_=96_8?= Message-ID: <4E8A608B.9030909@bibleseven.com> Tuesday Zechariah 7 ? 8 The Hypocrisy of False Fasting 7:1 In King Darius? fourth year, on the fourth day of /Kislev/, the ninth month, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. 7:2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their companions to seek the Lord?s favor 7:3 by asking both the priests of the temple of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, ?Should we weep in the fifth month, fasting as we have done over the years?? 7:4 The word of the Lord who rules over all then came to me, 7:5 ?Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ?When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me ? for me, indeed? 7:6 And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves??? 7:7 Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah were also populated? 7:8 Again the word of the Lord came to Zechariah: 7:9 ?The Lord who rules over all said, ?Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. 7:10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.? 7:11 ?But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear. 7:12 Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond, so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the Lord who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all had poured out great wrath. 7:13 ??It then came about that just as I cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,? the Lord Lord who rules over all had said. 7:14 ?Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.? Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful land a waste.? The Blessing of True Fasting 8:1 Then the word of the Lord who rules over all came to me as follows: 8:2 ?The Lord who rules over all says, ?I am very much concerned for Zion; indeed, I am so concerned for her that my rage will fall on those who hurt her.? 8:3 The Lord says, ?I have returned to Zion and will live within Jerusalem. Now Jerusalem will be called ?truthful city,? ?mountain of the Lord who rules over all,? ?holy mountain.?? 8:4 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says, ?Old men and women will once more live in the plazas of Jerusalem, each one leaning on a cane because of advanced age. 8:5 And the streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing. 8:6 And,? says the Lord who rules over all, ?though such a thing may seem to be difficult in the opinion of the small community of those days, will it also appear difficult to me?? asks the Lord who rules over all. 8:7 ?The Lord who rules over all asserts, ?I am about to save my people from the lands of the east and the west. 8:8 And I will bring them to settle within Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness.? 8:9 ?The Lord who rules over all also says, ?Gather strength, you who are listening to these words today from the mouths of the prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all, so that the temple might be built. 8:10 Before that time there was no compensation for man or animal, nor was there any relief from adversity for those who came and went, because I had pitted everybody ? each one ? against everyone else. 8:11 But I will be different now to this remnant of my people from the way I was in those days,? says the Lord who rules over all, 8:12 ?for there will be a peaceful time of sowing, the vine will produce its fruit and the ground its yield, and the skies will rain down dew. Then I will allow the remnant of my people to possess all these things. 8:13 And it will come about that just as you (both Judah and Israel) were a curse to the nations, so I will save you and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid! Instead, be strong!? 8:14 ?For the Lord who rules over all says, ?As I had planned to hurt you when your fathers made me angry,? says the Lord who rules over all, ?and I was not sorry, 8:15 so, to the contrary, I have planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and Judah ? do not fear! 8:16 These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts. 8:17 Do not plan evil in your hearts against one another. Do not favor a false oath ? these are all things that I hate,? says the Lord.? 8:18 The word of the Lord who rules over all came to me as follows: 8:19 ?The Lord who rules over all says, ?The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become joyful and happy, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.? 8:20 The Lord who rules over all says, ?It will someday come to pass that people ? residents of many cities ? will come. 8:21 The inhabitants of one will go to another and say, ?Let?s go up at once to ask the favor of the Lord, to seek the Lord who rules over all. Indeed, I?ll go with you.?? 8:22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord who rules over all and to ask his favor. 8:23 The Lord who rules over all says, ?In those days ten people from all languages and nations will grasp hold of ? indeed, grab ? the robe of one Jew and say, ?Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.??? Prayer Lord, the faithlessness and hypocrisy of the people continued, but You sought out the faithful remnant for Your blessing and the restoration of Your creation. May I grow in the direction of faithfulness rather than empty ritual and double-minded hypocrisy. Summary & Commentary Zechariah responded to the leaders of the people who requested a word from the Lord God as to their religious tradition of weeping and fasting on the fifth month, he challenged their integrity in so-doing for the prior seventy years [since the destruction of Solomon's temple], asking if they had ever truly done so with Him first in their hearts. They had not. He shared the Lord's challenge to demonstrate their repentance ?The Lord who rules over all said, ?Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.?? They refused, even covering their ears so that they could not hear His message. Zechariah was blessed to share in prophesy the encouraging words of the Lord ?I am about to save my people from the lands of the east and the west. And I will bring them to settle within Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness.? He then prophesied ?As I had planned to hurt you when your fathers made me angry,? says the Lord who rules over all, ?and I was not sorry, so, to the contrary, I have planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and Judah ? do not fear! These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts. Do not plan evil in your hearts against one another. Do not favor a false oath ? these are all things that I hate,? says the Lord.? Zechariah continued his prophesy of the Lord's plans for the future of His people ??It will someday come to pass that people ? residents of many cities ? will come. The inhabitants of one will go to another and say, ?Let?s go up at once to ask the favor of the Lord, to seek the Lord who rules over all. Indeed, I?ll go with you.? Interaction Consider For seventy years the people had practiced their religious rituals and for all of that time their hearts were not committed to the Lord ? so they had suffered exile. Discuss Were the people asking if they should again practice the ritual because they were hoping to hear that they no longer needed to, or were they really seeking affirmation that it was of value? Reflect Once again, consistent with His history, the Lord God required a proper response of the people ?These are the things you must do ...? Share When have you experienced or observed a situation where a religious practice has become a tired and empty ritual and the lives of those engaged in it a terrible hypocrisy? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you something in your life that has become more of an empty ritual than a meaningful celebration to the Lord. Action: Today I will prayerfully reassess all that I do, evaluating through a Biblical filter, why I do what I do when I do it the way that I do it ? is it from my heart and to the Lord God? Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Wednesday's text will be: Zechariah 9 ? 10 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From l4c at thelinuxlink.net Tue Oct 4 14:10:46 2011 From: l4c at thelinuxlink.net (l4c) Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:10:46 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Hrmmm... Message-ID: <4E8B4C26.3030106@thelinuxlink.net> Very interesting.. What do ya think? http://listserv.worldviewweekend.com/alerts/link.php?M=192043&N=21&L=252&F=H -- -Linc Fessenden In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... From bromichaelhenry at gmail.com Tue Oct 4 21:23:38 2011 From: bromichaelhenry at gmail.com (Michael Henry) Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 20:23:38 -0500 Subject: [Linux4christians] Python In-Reply-To: <4E0FC7FC.2050705@bibleseven.com> References: <4E0FC7FC.2050705@bibleseven.com> Message-ID: <20111004202338.68fe18d9@michael-XPS-M1530> Does anybody know python? I am trying to get a Christian game to play in Ubuntu. Called bibledave. If someone can help me I would appreciate it. From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Tue Oct 4 22:06:33 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:06:33 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] =?windows-1252?q?Wednesday_-_Zechariah_9_=96_1?= =?windows-1252?q?0?= Message-ID: <4E8BBBA9.4040108@bibleseven.com> Wednesday Zechariah 9 ? 10 The Coming of the True King 9:1 An oracle of the word of the Lord concerning the land of Hadrach, with its focus on Damascus: The eyes of all humanity, especially of the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord, 9:2 as are those of Hamath also, which adjoins Damascus, and Tyre and Sidon, though they consider themselves to be very wise. 9:3 Tyre built herself a fortification and piled up silver like dust and gold like the mud of the streets! 9:4 Nevertheless the Lord will evict her and shove her fortifications into the sea ? she will be consumed by fire. 9:5 Ashkelon will see and be afraid; Gaza will be in great anguish, as will Ekron, for her hope will have been dried up. Gaza will lose her king, and Ashkelon will no longer be inhabited. 9:6 A mongrel people will live in Ashdod, for I will greatly humiliate the Philistines. 9:7 I will take away their abominable religious practices; then those who survive will become a community of believers in our God, like a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites. 9:8 Then I will surround my temple to protect it like a guard from anyone crossing back and forth; so no one will cross over against them anymore as an oppressor, for now I myself have seen it. 9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you: he is legitimate and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey ? on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey. 9:10 I will remove the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be removed. Then he will announce peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 9:11 Moreover, as for you, because of our covenant relationship secured with blood, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit. 9:12 Return to the stronghold, you prisoners, with hope; today I declare that I will return double what was taken from you. 9:13 I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow! I will stir up your sons, Zion, against yours, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, like a warrior?s sword. 9:14 Then the Lord will appear above them, and his arrow will shoot forth like lightning; the Lord God will blow the trumpet and will sally forth on the southern storm winds. 9:15 The Lord who rules over all will guard them, and they will prevail and overcome with sling stones. Then they will drink, and will become noisy like drunkards, full like the sacrificial basin or like the corners of the altar. 9:16 On that day the Lord their God will deliver them as the flock of his people, for they are the precious stones of a crown sparkling over his land. 9:17 How precious and fair! Grain will make the young men flourish and new wine the young women. The Restoration of the True People 10:1 Ask the Lord for rain in the season of the late spring rains ? the Lord who causes thunderstorms ? and he will give everyone showers of rain and green growth in the field. 10:2 For the household gods have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd. 10:3 I am enraged at the shepherds and will punish the lead-goats. For the Lord who rules over all has brought blessing to his flock, the house of Judah, and will transform them into his majestic warhorse. 10:4 >From him will come the cornerstone, the wall peg, the battle bow, and every ruler. 10:5 And they will be like warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, for the Lord will be with them, and will defeat the enemy cavalry. 10:6 ?I (says the Lord) will strengthen the kingdom of Judah and deliver the people of Joseph and will bring them back because of my compassion for them. They will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and therefore I will hear them. 10:7 The Ephraimites will be like warriors and will rejoice as if they had drunk wine. Their children will see it and rejoice; they will celebrate in the things of the Lord. 10:8 I will signal for them and gather them, for I have already redeemed them; then they will become as numerous as they were before. 10:9 Though I scatter them among the nations, they will remember in far-off places ? they and their children will sprout forth and return. 10:10 I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to the lands of Gilead and Lebanon, for there will not be enough room for them in their own land. 10:11 The Lord will cross the sea of storms and will calm its turbulence. The depths of the Nile will dry up, the pride of Assyria will be humbled, and the domination of Egypt will be no more. 10:12 Thus I will strengthen them by my power, and they will walk about in my name,? says the Lord. Prayer Lord, You punish those who reject You and who abuse Your people while they worship false gods ? and You seek-out a remnant to redeem into Your future ?New Jerusalem? where there will be no more sin ? only perfection in Your presence. May I live with hope and joy in the future of Your promise, serving You today so that more may join me there. Summary & Commentary Zechariah declared the prophesy of the Lord God, first that the enemies of His people would be swept from their lands as they had exiled the Israelites, even Ashkelon would be populated by ?a mongrel people? - those whom the Babylonians would re-locate there - and later in history Greeks, Romans, and Muslims. [The Muslims destroyed the city when the Crusaders arrived.] He then spoke again of the promise of a distant time when the Lord God would restore peace and righteousness to the land though a king who would arrive on a donkey ? the Messiah. Zechariah continued his prophesy of promise ?I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to the lands of Gilead and Lebanon, for there will not be enough room for them in their own land. The Lord will cross the sea of storms and will calm its turbulence. The depths of the Nile will dry up, the pride of Assyria will be humbled, and the domination of Egypt will be no more. Thus I will strengthen them by my power, and they will walk about in my name,? says the Lord.? Interaction Consider Those whose hatred of the Jews, and whose selfish desire for conquest, served as instruments of punishment and sifting were themselves not free from the Lord God's justice. Discuss Isn't it amazing that the Lord God would implant a detail in the ancient prophesy of Zechariah like that of the Messiah ?Your king is coming to you: he is legitimate and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey ? on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey.?? Reflect How interesting to note the specific history of Ashkelon where ?a mongrel people? did indeed inhabit their precious city, in fact ? to them ? many different ?mongrel? peoples. Share When have you imagined the ?New Jerusalem? and your heart was lifted in joy? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you something uniquely powerful to you about the ?New Jerusalem? Action: Today I will pause to praise the Lord God for His endless patience and His powerful action to redeem and to restore His people. I will invite a fellow believer to join me in that. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Thursday's text will be: Zechariah 11 - 13 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za Wed Oct 5 01:04:53 2011 From: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za (Raoul Snyman) Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:04:53 +0200 Subject: [Linux4christians] Python In-Reply-To: <20111004202338.68fe18d9@michael-XPS-M1530> References: <4E0FC7FC.2050705@bibleseven.com> <20111004202338.68fe18d9@michael-XPS-M1530> Message-ID: <4f97f84899bd2003fd74d0bf1b96014d@localhost> On Tue, 4 Oct 2011 20:23:38 -0500, Michael Henry wrote: > Does anybody know python? I am trying to get a Christian game to play > in Ubuntu. Called bibledave. If someone can help me I would appreciate > it. I know some Python. What seems to be the problem? -- Raoul Snyman, B.Tech IT (Software Engineering) Saturn Laboratories m: 082 550 3754 e: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za w: www.saturnlaboratories.co.za b: blog.saturnlaboratories.co.za From raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za Wed Oct 5 01:38:04 2011 From: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za (Raoul Snyman) Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:38:04 +0200 Subject: [Linux4christians] Python In-Reply-To: <4f97f84899bd2003fd74d0bf1b96014d@localhost> References: <4E0FC7FC.2050705@bibleseven.com> <20111004202338.68fe18d9@michael-XPS-M1530> <4f97f84899bd2003fd74d0bf1b96014d@localhost> Message-ID: <0753315d15d4b647c7104a75cfa030b6@localhost> On Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:04:53 +0200, Raoul Snyman wrote: > On Tue, 4 Oct 2011 20:23:38 -0500, Michael Henry wrote: >> Does anybody know python? I am trying to get a Christian game to play >> in Ubuntu. Called bibledave. If someone can help me I would appreciate >> it. > > I know some Python. What seems to be the problem? Hey, that's a cool little game. Was pretty simple to fix too. I'll try to write a patch. Make sure you have PyGame installed (sudo aptitude install python-pygame). -- Raoul Snyman, B.Tech IT (Software Engineering) Saturn Laboratories m: 082 550 3754 e: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za w: www.saturnlaboratories.co.za b: blog.saturnlaboratories.co.za From raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za Wed Oct 5 05:11:37 2011 From: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za (Raoul Snyman) Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:11:37 +0200 Subject: [Linux4christians] Python In-Reply-To: <0753315d15d4b647c7104a75cfa030b6@localhost> References: <4E0FC7FC.2050705@bibleseven.com> <20111004202338.68fe18d9@michael-XPS-M1530> <4f97f84899bd2003fd74d0bf1b96014d@localhost> <0753315d15d4b647c7104a75cfa030b6@localhost> Message-ID: <53cc351c8e49d20788e5fdf67825b5bd@localhost> On Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:38:04 +0200, Raoul Snyman wrote: > Hey, that's a cool little game. Was pretty simple to fix too. I'll try to > write a patch. Make sure you have PyGame installed (sudo aptitude install > python-pygame). I've attached a patch file. Run the following command in the same directory as "game.py", "main.py" and "setup.py": patch -p0 -i /path/to/bibledave.diff -- Raoul Snyman, B.Tech IT (Software Engineering) Saturn Laboratories m: 082 550 3754 e: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za w: www.saturnlaboratories.co.za b: blog.saturnlaboratories.co.za -------------- next part -------------- Index: pgu/vid.py =================================================================== --- pgu/vid.py (revision 518) +++ pgu/vid.py (working copy) @@ -416,8 +416,8 @@ s._rect = pygame.Rect(s.rect) def loop_sprites(self): - as = self.sprites[:] - for s in as: + all_sprites = self.sprites[:] + for s in all_sprites: if hasattr(s,'loop'): s.loop(self,s) @@ -427,8 +427,8 @@ layer = self.layers[0] - as = self.sprites[:] - for s in as: + all_sprites = self.sprites[:] + for s in all_sprites: self._tilehits(s) def _tilehits(self,s): @@ -518,12 +518,12 @@ def loop_spritehits(self): - as = self.sprites[:] + all_sprites = self.sprites[:] groups = {} for n in range(0,31): groups[1<>= 1 n <<= 1 - for s in as: + for s in all_sprites: if s.agroups!=0: rect1,rect2 = s.rect,Rect(s.rect) #if rect1.centerx < 320: rect2.x += 640 From bromichaelhenry at gmail.com Wed Oct 5 15:45:16 2011 From: bromichaelhenry at gmail.com (Michael Henry) Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 14:45:16 -0500 Subject: [Linux4christians] Python In-Reply-To: <53cc351c8e49d20788e5fdf67825b5bd@localhost> References: <4E0FC7FC.2050705@bibleseven.com> <20111004202338.68fe18d9@michael-XPS-M1530> <4f97f84899bd2003fd74d0bf1b96014d@localhost> <0753315d15d4b647c7104a75cfa030b6@localhost> <53cc351c8e49d20788e5fdf67825b5bd@localhost> Message-ID: <20111005144516.345496e2@michael-XPS-M1530> Thank you... Do you know how long I have been trying to get that fixed? Now it works great... Raoul you da man!!!! So I had assumed that the problem was a conflict between pygame 1.5 and 1.9. Was that correct? I will keep your address on file. I might need something else...LOL On Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:11:37 +0200 Raoul Snyman wrote: > On Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:38:04 +0200, Raoul Snyman wrote: > > Hey, that's a cool little game. Was pretty simple to fix too. I'll try > to > > write a patch. Make sure you have PyGame installed (sudo aptitude > install > > python-pygame). > > I've attached a patch file. Run the following command in the same > directory as "game.py", "main.py" and "setup.py": > > patch -p0 -i /path/to/bibledave.diff > > -- > Raoul Snyman, B.Tech IT (Software Engineering) > Saturn Laboratories > m: 082 550 3754 > e: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za > w: www.saturnlaboratories.co.za > b: blog.saturnlaboratories.co.za From parrisdc at gmail.com Wed Oct 5 19:18:12 2011 From: parrisdc at gmail.com (Don Parris) Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 19:18:12 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Hrmmm... In-Reply-To: <4E8B4C26.3030106@thelinuxlink.net> References: <4E8B4C26.3030106@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: I can honestly say that I don't have any respect for the Word of Faith/Prosperity Gospel movement at all. I never have. Benny Hinn has been quoted as saying there are three trinities, each person of the Godhead being a trinity unto itself. I have absolutely no use whatsoever for such so-called "theology". And I really hope that this is not actually creeping into mainstream evangelicalism. Blessings, Don On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 14:10, l4c wrote: > Very interesting.. What do ya think? > > http://listserv.**worldviewweekend.com/alerts/** > link.php?M=192043&N=21&L=252&**F=H > > -- > -Linc Fessenden > > In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... > ______________________________**_________________ > Linux4christians mailing list > Linux4christians at thelinuxlink.**net > http://www.thelinuxlink.net/**mailman/listinfo/**linux4christians > -- D.C. Parris, FMP, LEED AP O+M, ESL Certificate Minister, Security/FM Coordinator, Free Software Advocate https://www.xing.com/profile/Don_Parris | http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcparris GPG Key ID: F5E179BE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Wed Oct 5 21:58:26 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:58:26 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Thursday - Zechariah 11 - 13 Message-ID: <4E8D0B42.5010405@bibleseven.com> Thursday Zechariah 11 - 13 The History and Future of Judah's Wicked Kings 11:1 Open your gates, Lebanon, so that the fire may consume your cedars. 11:2 Howl, fir tree, because the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees have been destroyed. Howl, oaks of Bashan, because the impenetrable forest has fallen. 11:3 Listen to the howling of shepherds, because their magnificence has been destroyed. Listen to the roaring of young lions, because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated. 11:4 The Lord my God says this: "Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter. 11:5 Those who buy them slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, 'Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.' Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 11:6 Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land," says the Lord, "but instead I will turn every last person over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them." 11:7 So I began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicted of all the flock. Then I took two staffs, calling one "Pleasantness" and the other "Binders," and I tended the flock. 11:8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month, for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well. 11:9 I then said, "I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other's flesh!" 11:10 Then I took my staff "Pleasantness" and cut it in two to annul my covenant that I had made with all the people. 11:11 So it was annulled that very day, and then the most afflicted of the flock who kept faith with me knew that that was the word of the Lord. 11:12 Then I said to them, "If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it." So they weighed out my payment -- thirty pieces of silver. 11:13 The Lord then said to me, "Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum at which they valued me!" So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the temple of the Lord. 11:14 Then I cut the second staff "Binders" in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel. 11:15 Again the Lord said to me, "Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves. 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who abandons the flock! May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye! May his arm wither completely away, and his right eye become completely blind!" The Repentance of Judah 12:1 The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord -- he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person -- says, 12:2 "I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it. 12:4 In that day," says the Lord, "I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses of the nations with blindness. 12:5 Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a means of strength to us through their God, the Lord who rules over all.' 12:6 On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem. 12:7 The Lord also will deliver the homes of Judah first, so that the splendor of the kingship of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not exceed that of Judah. 12:8 On that day the Lord himself will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like mighty David, and the dynasty of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. 12:9 So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." 12:10 "I will pour out on the kingship of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn. 12:11 On that day the lamentation in Jerusalem will be as great as the lamentation at Hadad-Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12:12 The land will mourn, clan by clan -- the clan of the royal household of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the clan of the family of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; 12:13 the clan of the descendants of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; and the clan of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves -- 12:14 all the clans that remain, each separately with their wives." The Refinement of Judah 13:1 "In that day there will be a fountain opened up for the dynasty of David and the people of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity. 13:2 And also on that day," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will remove the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land. 13:3 Then, if anyone prophesies in spite of this, his father and mother to whom he was born will say to him, 'You cannot live, for you lie in the name of the Lord.' Then his father and mother to whom he was born will run him through with a sword when he prophesies. 13:4 "Therefore, on that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies and will no longer wear the hairy garment of a prophet to deceive the people. 13:5 Instead he will say, 'I am no prophet -- indeed, I am a farmer, for a man has made me his indentured servant since my youth.' 13:6 Then someone will ask him, 'What are these wounds on your chest?' and he will answer, 'Some that I received in the house of my friends.' 13:7 "Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate," says the Lord who rules over all. Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones. 13:8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord, that two-thirds of the people in it will be cut off and die, but one-third will be left in it. 13:9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire; I will refine them like silver is refined and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer; I will say, 'These are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'" Prayer Lord, You choose for Yourself a remnant of the people who will respond to Your cleansing so that You may restore the planned kingdom of relationship between You and Your creation. May I daily respond to the cleansing work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Summary & Commentary Zechariah recorded "The Lord my God says this: "Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter.", then he described the step by step process of His symbolic termination of covenants which the people had nullified through their disobedience and rebellion, leading to their punishment. He then shared the word "The Lord -- he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person -- says, "I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations ...", which referred to the terrible judgment from the God of creation upon His rebellious people. Zechariah then prophesied the last days of the end times when the newly re-assembled people of God would have a leader, in royal lineage from David through Solomon and in physical lineage through Nathan, who would rule with righteousness and without all of the sins of selfishness that He had warned would come when they had demanded a human king "like the nations around us". He prophesied further "I will pour out ... a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn ..." Zechariah continued "In that day there will be a fountain opened up for the dynasty of David and the people of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity. And also on that day," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will remove the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land." He concluded "It will happen in all the land, says the Lord, that two-thirds of the people in it will be cut off and die, but one-third will be left in it. Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire; I will refine them like silver is refined and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer; I will say, 'These are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'"" Interaction Consider The Lord God never failed in His part of any covenant, it was always the people. Discuss Isn't it amazing how the Lord God inserted clear descriptions of the coming Messiah -- and also clear evidences that they were One and the same "... so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced." Reflect They will call on my name and I will answer; I will say, 'These are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'"" Share When have you experienced the purifying of the Lord God? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place in your life where He is beginning a purifying work. Action: Today I will humbly submit to the purifying of the Lord, surrendering the things of the world which interfere with His discipleship of me, clinging to the things that move me toward righteousness. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Friday's text will be: Zechariah 14 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From fmiller at lightlink.com Wed Oct 5 22:21:03 2011 From: fmiller at lightlink.com (Fred A. Miller) Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:21:03 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Hrmmm... In-Reply-To: References: <4E8B4C26.3030106@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: <4E8D108F.3070001@lightlink.com> On 10/05/2011 07:18 PM, Don Parris wrote: > I can honestly say that I don't have any respect for the Word of > Faith/Prosperity Gospel movement at all. I never have. Benny Hinn > has been quoted as saying there are three trinities, each person of > the Godhead being a trinity unto itself. I have absolutely no use > whatsoever for such so-called "theology". And I really hope that this > is not actually creeping into mainstream evangelicalism. To some extent, I think it has. The church has suffered over the years in membership in some parts of Europe and the USA. There has been the largest growth in Africa and that growth has been conservative....not liberal theology. Preeching the REAL gospel has fallen out of favor, as man has become more intrenched in his modern materialist life, along with slowly accepting of that which is unholy, i.e., liberal. Those who've wanted to grow a church have succumbed to promoting that which tickles the ears and makes a congregation feel confortable instead of preaching the truth. This includes the Prosperity Gospel. Fred -- "Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars." - Unknown -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From parrisdc at gmail.com Thu Oct 6 18:42:09 2011 From: parrisdc at gmail.com (Don Parris) Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2011 18:42:09 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Hrmmm... In-Reply-To: <4E8D108F.3070001@lightlink.com> References: <4E8B4C26.3030106@thelinuxlink.net> <4E8D108F.3070001@lightlink.com> Message-ID: On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 22:21, Fred A. Miller wrote: > ** > On 10/05/2011 07:18 PM, Don Parris wrote: > > I can honestly say that I don't have any respect for the Word of > Faith/Prosperity Gospel movement at all. I never have. Benny Hinn has been > quoted as saying there are three trinities, each person of the Godhead being > a trinity unto itself. I have absolutely no use whatsoever for such > so-called "theology". And I really hope that this is not actually creeping > into mainstream evangelicalism. > > > To some extent, I think it has. The church has suffered over the years in > membership in some parts of Europe and the USA. There has been the largest > growth in Africa and that growth has been conservative....not liberal > theology. Preeching the REAL gospel has fallen out of favor, as man has > become more intrenched in his modern materialist life, along with slowly > accepting of that which is unholy, i.e., liberal. Those who've wanted to > grow a church have succumbed to promoting that which tickles the ears and > makes a congregation feel confortable instead of preaching the truth. This > includes the Prosperity Gospel. > > I can honestly say I had no idea about the connection of the Word of Faith movement to shamanism... If I find some time, I will have to research that a little further. Very interesting though. -- D.C. Parris, FMP, LEED AP O+M, ESL Certificate Minister, Security/FM Coordinator, Free Software Advocate https://www.xing.com/profile/Don_Parris | http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcparris GPG Key ID: F5E179BE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From fmiller at lightlink.com Thu Oct 6 21:02:18 2011 From: fmiller at lightlink.com (Fred A. Miller) Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:02:18 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Hrmmm... In-Reply-To: References: <4E8B4C26.3030106@thelinuxlink.net> <4E8D108F.3070001@lightlink.com> Message-ID: <4E8E4F9A.9080202@lightlink.com> On 10/06/2011 06:42 PM, Don Parris wrote: > I can honestly say I had no idea about the connection of the Word of > Faith movement to shamanism... If I find some time, I will have to > research that a little further. Very interesting though. 'Going to be very interesting over the near future. Fred -- "Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars." - Unknown -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Thu Oct 6 21:15:46 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:15:46 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Friday - Zechariah 14 Message-ID: <4E8E52C2.8080308@bibleseven.com> Friday Zechariah 14 The Sovereignty of the Lord 14:1 A day of the Lord is about to come when your possessions will be divided as plunder in your midst. 14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. 14:3 Then the Lord will go to battle and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. 14:4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward. 14:5 Then you will escape through my mountain valley, for the mountains will extend to Azal. Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come with all his holy ones with him. 14:6 On that day there will be no light -- the sources of light in the heavens will congeal. 14:7 It will happen in one day (a day known to the Lord); not in the day or the night, but in the evening there will be light. 14:8 Moreover, on that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it will happen both in summer and in winter. 14:9 The Lord will then be king over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be seen as one with a single name. 14:10 All the land will change and become like the Arabah from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be raised up and will stay in its own place from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate and on to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. 14:11 And people will settle there, and there will no longer be the threat of divine extermination -- Jerusalem will dwell in security. 14:12 But this will be the nature of the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will decay while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. 14:13 On that day there will be great confusion from the Lord among them; they will seize each other and attack one another violently. 14:14 Moreover, Judah will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered up -- gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. 14:15 This is the kind of plague that will devastate horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in those camps. 14:16 Then all who survive from all the nations that came to attack Jerusalem will go up annually to worship the King, the Lord who rules over all, and to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. 14:17 But if any of the nations anywhere on earth refuse to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord who rules over all, they will get no rain. 14:18 If the Egyptians will not do so, they will get no rain -- instead there will be the kind of plague which the Lord inflicts on any nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. 14:19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. 14:20 On that day the bells of the horses will bear the inscription "Holy to the Lord." The cooking pots in the Lord's temple will be as holy as the bowls in front of the altar. 14:21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the Lord who rules over all, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord who rules over all. Prayer Lord, the end will come as You have determined and a battle will be joined to begin the final cleansing of humankind, concluding at that stage with Your earthly kingdom in power and all others required to pay homage. May I recognize that now is my time to pay homage, now if my time to recognize that You are already on Your throne, and now is the time to tell Your story that many others will choose rightly for You. Summary & Commentary Zechariah prophesied the coming of the last days of the end times battle of Armageddon. He detailed the purging of Jerusalem and Judah, the subjugation of those nations who had been enemies of them, and the period of domination of the Lord's earthly kingdom. All will be require to pay homage to the Lord God and any and all will be welcome to come to submit to Him in worship, to surrender to Him in faith, and there will no longer be [as Jesus the Christ would later refine it] "Jew nor Gentile". Interaction Consider And end is surely coming when the Lord's patience has run out, when His time for the end has arrived, and when His final sifting of humankind will begin. Discuss Is it interesting to you that the Lord God would provide a time when unbelievers will be required to pay homage, that those who refuse will be punished with no rain, and that all will be welcome to come as surrendered-believers -- regardless of nationality? Reflect Does it seem that the Lord God's covenant has shifted from "the chosen people" to "the people who choose"? Share When have you experienced the change from a person who chose rebellion against the Lord God's gift of salvation to one who chose to receive His gift? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of the moment of your surrender, to stir-up in you a more-profound sense of His presence, and to stimulate in you a desire to share your story about Him. Action: Today I will joyfully recall my absolute surrender to the Lordship of Christ, I will celebrate anew His presence within me, and I will respectfully but resolutely share His story in my life with the one (or ones) to whom He directs me. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Saturday's text will be: Malachi -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Fri Oct 7 21:32:00 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:32:00 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Saturday - Malachi Message-ID: <4E8FA810.50907@bibleseven.com> Saturday Malachi Introduction and God's Election of Israel 1:1 What follows is divine revelation. The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi: 1:2 "I have shown love to you," says the Lord, but you say, "How have you shown love to us?" "Esau was Jacob's brother," the Lord explains, "yet I chose Jacob 1:3 and rejected Esau. I turned Esau's mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals." 1:4 Edom says, "Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places." So the Lord who rules over all responds, "They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased. 1:5 Your eyes will see it, and then you will say, 'May the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!'" The Sacrilege of Priestly Service 1:6 "A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, 'How have we made light of your name?' 1:7 You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, 'How have we offended you?' By treating the table of the Lord as if it is of no importance! 1:8 For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick, is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them to your governor! Will he be pleased with you or show you favor?" asks the Lord who rules over all. 1:9 But now plead for God's favor that he might be gracious to us. "With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?" asks the Lord who rules over all. 1:10 "I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you," says the Lord who rules over all, "and I will no longer accept an offering from you. 1:11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations," says the Lord who rules over all. 1:12 "But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings despicable. 1:13 You also say, 'How tiresome it is.' You turn up your nose at it," says the Lord who rules over all, "and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?" asks the Lord. 1:14 "There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the Lord who rules over all, "and my name is awesome among the nations." The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message 2:1 "Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously the need to honor my name," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will send judgment on you and turn your blessings into curses -- indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. 2:3 I am about to discipline your children and will spread offal on your faces, the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. 2:4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant may continue to be with Levi," says the Lord who rules over all. 2:5 "My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. 2:6 He taught what was true; sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. 2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all. 2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi," says the Lord who rules over all. 2:9 "Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your instruction." The Rebellion of the People 2:10 Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors? 2:11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! 2:12 May the Lord cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all! 2:13 You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. 2:14 Yet you ask, "Why?" The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. 2:15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. 2:16 "I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel, "and the one who is guilty of violence," says the Lord who rules over all. "Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful." Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit 2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" Because you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord's opinion, and he delights in them," or "Where is the God of justice?" 3:1 "I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all. 3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire, like a launderer's soap. 3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering. 3:4 The offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past. 3:5 "I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me," says the Lord who rules over all. Resistance to the Lord through Selfishness 3:6 "Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished. 3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored my commandments and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord who rules over all. "But you say, 'How should we return?' 3:8 Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and contributions! 3:9 You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me -- this whole nation is guilty. 3:10 "Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. 3:11 Then I will stop the plague from ruining your crops, and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest," says the Lord who rules over all. 3:12 "All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in a delightful land," says the Lord who rules over all. Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency 3:13 "You have criticized me sharply," says the Lord, "but you ask, 'How have we criticized you?' 3:14 You have said, 'It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? 3:15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!'" 3:16 Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name. 3:17 "They will belong to me," says the Lord who rules over all, "in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not. 4:1 "For indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up," says the Lord who rules over all. "It will not leave even a root or branch. 4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication will rise with healing wings, and you will skip about like calves released from the stall. 4:3 You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says the Lord who rules over all. Restoration through the Lord 4:4 "Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. 4:5 Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. 4:6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment." Prayer Lord, You explained to Israel over and over the reasons for their troubles, Your hope for their repentance and restoration, and the coming of the Messiah -- followed eventually and ultimately by the judgment. May I learn from the mistakes of the past, celebrate Your provision for my salvation, and live as a useful instrument until the Lord returns to take me home. Summary & Commentary Malachi prophesied to Israel [more specifically, the returned-remnant in Jerusalem and surrounding region, following the exile]. He challenged them "I have shown love to you," says the Lord, but you say, "How have you shown love to us?" "Esau was Jacob's brother," the Lord explains, "yet I chose Jacob and rejected Esau. I turned Esau's mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals." Edom says, "Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places." So the Lord who rules over all responds, "They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. Malachi encourage them that they would one day desire that all people know and follow the Lord God "... then you will say, 'May the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!'" He prophesied the Lord God's anger at the betrayal of the Levitical priests "For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all. You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi," Malachi reminded them of their terrible sin within the family of Israel "... Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors? Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem." He prophesied the Lord God's judgment of disobedience and rebellion "I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me," says the Lord who rules over all." Malachi encouraged them with the Lord God's provision of merciful redemption for the repentant "...Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord who rules over all." He reminded them of the dissonance between their words and the truth "But you say, 'How should we return?' Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and contributions! You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me -- this whole nation is guilty." Malachi challenged them in their arrogance "You have said, 'It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!'" He prophesied the Lord God's planned Great Throne Judgment and the Lamb's Book of Life "Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name. "They will belong to me," says the Lord who rules over all, "in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not." Malachi prophesied the symbolic coming of one to prepare and proclaim the coming Messiah "Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment."" Interaction Consider No matter how arrogant and temporarily-power are those who reject the Lord God one day they will fall. Discuss Why would anyone continue to imagine that they could diss the Lord God and be blessed in the long-term? Reflect Elijah in Malachi 4:5-6 was a symbolic representation of John the Baptizer -- Jesus so declared. Share When have you experienced or observed religious leaders mis-leading people, resulting in harm to them, and eventually great harm to themselves? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you an opportunity in your life where you may be His instrument to cause "... the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!" [Israel referring to all current believers.] Action: Today I will humbly and joyfully accept the Lord God's assignment to be His evangelist in whatever small way He chooses to use me. I will ask a fellow believer to pray for me and will share with them what He does in and through me as I serve Him. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Sunday's text will be: *ACTS 1:1-26* -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sat Oct 8 15:50:12 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:50:12 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Saturday - Malachi In-Reply-To: <4E8FA810.50907@bibleseven.com> References: <4E8FA810.50907@bibleseven.com> Message-ID: <4E90A974.30905@bibleseven.com> Due to a server-level spam filter malfunction this final post of the first-pass draft studies of the Bible were rejected by many of your ISP's. I am re-sending with the hope that it has been repaired. David > > Saturday > > > Malachi > > > Introduction and God's Election of Israel > > 1:1 What follows is divine revelation. The word of the Lord came to > Israel through Malachi: > > 1:2 "I have shown love to you," says the Lord, but you say, "How have > you shown love to us?" > > "Esau was Jacob's brother," the Lord explains, "yet I chose Jacob 1:3 > and rejected Esau. I turned Esau's mountains into a deserted wasteland > and gave his territory to the wild jackals." > > 1:4 Edom says, "Though we are devastated, we will once again build the > ruined places." So the Lord who rules over all responds, "They indeed > may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of > evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased. 1:5 > Your eyes will see it, and then you will say, 'May the Lord be > magnified even beyond the border of Israel!'" > > The Sacrilege of Priestly Service > > 1:6 "A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his > master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, > where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you > priests who make light of my name! But you reply, 'How have we made > light of your name?' 1:7 You are offering improper sacrifices on my > altar, yet you ask, 'How have we offended you?' By treating the table > of the Lord as if it is of no importance! 1:8 For when you offer blind > animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame > and sick, is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them to your > governor! Will he be pleased with you or show you favor?" asks the > Lord who rules over all. 1:9 But now plead for God's favor that he > might be gracious to us. "With this kind of offering in your hands, > how can he be pleased with you?" asks the Lord who rules over all. > > 1:10 "I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, so that you > no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with > you," says the Lord who rules over all, "and I will no longer accept > an offering from you. 1:11 For from the east to the west my name will > be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered > in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations," > says the Lord who rules over all. 1:12 "But you are profaning it by > saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings > despicable. 1:13 You also say, 'How tiresome it is.' You turn up your > nose at it," says the Lord who rules over all, "and instead bring what > is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! > Should I accept this from you?" asks the Lord. 1:14 "There will be > harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in > his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For > I am a great king," says the Lord who rules over all, "and my name is > awesome among the nations." > > > > The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message > > 2:1 "Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2:2 If you do not > listen and take seriously the need to honor my name," says the Lord > who rules over all, "I will send judgment on you and turn your > blessings into curses -- indeed, I have already done so because you > are not taking it to heart. 2:3 I am about to discipline your children > and will spread offal on your faces, the very offal produced at your > festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. 2:4 Then you > will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant may > continue to be with Levi," says the Lord who rules over all. 2:5 "My > covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its > statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and > stood in awe before me. 2:6 He taught what was true; sinful words were > not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and > he turned many people away from sin. 2:7 For the lips of a priest > should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek > instruction from him because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules > over all. 2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused > many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi," > says the Lord who rules over all. 2:9 "Therefore, I have caused you to > be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you > are not following after me and are showing partiality in your > instruction." > > The Rebellion of the People > > 2:10 Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? Why do > we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our > ancestors? 2:11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have > been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the > holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! 2:12 > May the Lord cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who > does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to > the Lord who rules over all! > > 2:13 You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as > you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the > offering nor accepts it favorably from you. 2:14 Yet you ask, "Why?" > The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married > when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though > she is your companion and wife by law. 2:15 No one who has even a > small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do > when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, > for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. 2:16 > "I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel, "and the one who is > guilty of violence," says the Lord who rules over all. "Pay attention > to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful." > > Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit > > 2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, "How have > we wearied him?" Because you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in > the Lord's opinion, and he delights in them," or "Where is the God of > justice?" > > > > 3:1 "I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before > me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, > and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly > coming," says the Lord who rules over all. > > 3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when > he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire, like a launderer's > soap. 3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will > cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they > will offer the Lord a proper offering. 3:4 The offerings of Judah and > Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past. > > 3:5 "I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify > against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, > those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and > orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do > not fear me," says the Lord who rules over all. > > Resistance to the Lord through Selfishness > > 3:6 "Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of > Jacob, have not perished. 3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have > ignored my commandments and have not kept them! Return to me, and I > will return to you," says the Lord who rules over all. "But you say, > 'How should we return?' 3:8 Can a person rob God? You indeed are > robbing me, but you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and > contributions! 3:9 You are bound for judgment because you are robbing > me -- this whole nation is guilty. > > 3:10 "Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be > food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules > over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and > pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. 3:11 > Then I will stop the plague from ruining your crops, and the vine will > not lose its fruit before harvest," says the Lord who rules over all. > 3:12 "All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in a > delightful land," says the Lord who rules over all. > > Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency > > 3:13 "You have criticized me sharply," says the Lord, "but you ask, > 'How have we criticized you?' 3:14 You have said, 'It is useless to > serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and > going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? 3:15 So > now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice > evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!'" > > 3:16 Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the > Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were > recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his > name. 3:17 "They will belong to me," says the Lord who rules over all, > "in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will spare them > as a man spares his son who serves him. 3:18 Then once more you will > see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, > between the one who serves God and the one who does not. > > > > 4:1 "For indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the > arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up," > says the Lord who rules over all. "It will not leave even a root or > branch. 4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication > will rise with healing wings, and you will skip about like calves > released from the stall. 4:3 You will trample on the wicked, for they > will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am > preparing," says the Lord who rules over all. > > Restoration through the Lord > > 4:4 "Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb I gave > rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. 4:5 Look, I will send > you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord > arrives. 4:6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to > me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment." > > > > Prayer > > > Lord, You explained to Israel over and over the reasons for their > troubles, Your hope for their repentance and restoration, and the > coming of the Messiah -- followed eventually and ultimately by the > judgment. May I learn from the mistakes of the past, celebrate Your > provision for my salvation, and live as a useful instrument until the > Lord returns to take me home. > > > > Summary & Commentary > > > Malachi prophesied to Israel [more specifically, the returned-remnant > in Jerusalem and surrounding region, following the exile]. > > He challenged them "I have shown love to you," says the Lord, but you > say, "How have you shown love to us?" "Esau was Jacob's brother," the > Lord explains, "yet I chose Jacob and rejected Esau. I turned Esau's > mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild > jackals." Edom says, "Though we are devastated, we will once again > build the ruined places." So the Lord who rules over all responds, > "They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. > > Malachi encourage them that they would one day desire that all people > know and follow the Lord God "... then you will say, 'May the Lord be > magnified even beyond the border of Israel!'" > > He prophesied the Lord God's anger at the betrayal of the Levitical > priests "For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred > things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the > messenger of the Lord who rules over all. You, however, have turned > from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have > corrupted the covenant with Levi," > > Malachi reminded them of their terrible sin within the family of > Israel "... Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? > Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant > of our ancestors? Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have > been committed in Israel and Jerusalem." > > He prophesied the Lord God's judgment of disobedience and rebellion "I > will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those > who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break > promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who > refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear > me," says the Lord who rules over all." > > Malachi encouraged them with the Lord God's provision of merciful > redemption for the repentant "...Return to me, and I will return to > you," says the Lord who rules over all." > > He reminded them of the dissonance between their words and the truth > "But you say, 'How should we return?' Can a person rob God? You indeed > are robbing me, but you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and > contributions! You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me > -- this whole nation is guilty." > > > Malachi challenged them in their arrogance "You have said, 'It is > useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his > requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules > over all? So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those > who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God > escape!'" > > He prophesied the Lord God's planned Great Throne Judgment and the > Lamb's Book of Life "Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one > another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in > which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and > honored his name. "They will belong to me," says the Lord who rules > over all, "in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will > spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you > will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the > wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not." > > Malachi prophesied the symbolic coming of one to prepare and proclaim > the coming Messiah "Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before > the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. He will encourage > fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come > and strike the earth with judgment."" > > > > Interaction > > > Consider > > No matter how arrogant and temporarily-power are those who reject the > Lord God one day they will fall. > > > Discuss > > Why would anyone continue to imagine that they could diss the Lord God > and be blessed in the long-term? > > > > Reflect > > Elijah in Malachi 4:5-6 was a symbolic representation of John the > Baptizer -- Jesus so declared. > > > Share > > When have you experienced or observed religious leaders mis-leading > people, resulting in harm to them, and eventually great harm to > themselves? > > > > Faith in Action > > > Prayer: > > Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you an opportunity in your life where > you may be His instrument to cause "... the Lord be magnified even > beyond the border of Israel!" [Israel referring to all current believers.] > > > > Action: > > Today I will humbly and joyfully accept the Lord God's assignment to > be His evangelist in whatever small way He chooses to use me. I will > ask a fellow believer to pray for me and will share with them what He > does in and through me as I serve Him. > > > Be Specific ______________________________________________________ > > > Sunday's text will be: *ACTS 1:1-26* > > -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sat Oct 8 21:32:43 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sat, 08 Oct 2011 21:32:43 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Sunday - Acts 1 Message-ID: <4E90F9BB.9070400@bibleseven.com> NOTE: With this E-mail we are returning to the earliest Drafts of the B7 Study-series. The goal is to bring them all up-to-date with the most-recent Studies. The Chronological Gospels are being prepared for publication. These Studies will be submitted to the Bible.org resource site as we complete them as they will now meet their formatting requirements. It is our prayer that far more than merely the format will be improved, rather, that the complete Study of the Word of God will have equipped us to better understand what we now read again. We also pray that, as He has done in past Bible study experiences, the Lord God will add to His edification of us from His Word. If you are inspired to share a link to another part of the Word of God that you believe may amplify understanding please E-mail that. Constructive questions and suggestions are welcomed. *We strongly encourage you to share these Studies with others*, and if they would like to receive them directly, please send us their E-mail address. *An Introduction to the Book of Acts * The author of the Book of Acts is generally considered to have been Luke. It is addressed to Theophilus, the same as the Book of Luke. "Theophilus" translates to "friend of God" and because of Luke's manner of address "the most excellent" Theophilus is thought to have been a Roman of some stature, perhaps an military officer or a high official. Jesus has been crucified and resurrected and at the end of the four Gospels has ascended back to His home in Heaven. The Apostles, disciples, believers, observers, and religious leaders are now left to sort out what has happened and what it means. Sunday *Acts 1* Jesus Ascends to Heaven 1:1 I wrote the former account, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach 1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after he had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 1:3 To the same apostles also, after his suffering, he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God. 1:4 While he was with them, he declared, "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait there for what my Father promised, which you heard about from me. 1:5 For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 1:6 So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, "Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 1:7 He told them, "You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth." 1:9 After he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight. 1:10 As they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly two men in white clothing stood near them 1:11 and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven." A Replacement for Judas is Chosen 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called the Mount of Olives (which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away). 1:13 When they had entered Jerusalem, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James were there. 1:14 All these continued together in prayer with one mind, together with the women, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 1:15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty people) and said, 1:16 "Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through David concerning Judas -- who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus -- 1:17 for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry." 1:18 (Now this man Judas acquired a field with the reward of his unjust deed, and falling headfirst he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 1:19 This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so that in their own language they called that field /Hakeldama/, that is, "Field of Blood.") 1:20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms, '/*Let his house become deserted,*/ /*and let there be no one to live in it*/,' and '/*Let another take his position of responsibility*/.' 1:21 Thus one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time the Lord Jesus associated with us, 1:22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day he was taken up from us -- one of these must become a witness of his resurrection together with us." 1:23 So they proposed two candidates: Joseph called Barsabbas (also called Justus) and Matthias. 1:24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 1:25 to assume the task of this service and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." 1:26 Then they cast lots for them, and the one chosen was Matthias; so he was counted with the eleven apostles. Prayer Lord, I will pray that every Christian will come to know the truth of the Bible about the return of Jesus so that they will never be deceived by false Christs. I also pray that all believers be they male or female, old or young, rich or poor, across nationality and race will find fellowships where they may pray and study and worship as peers. Summary & Commentary Luke briefly reviewed the final days of Jesus' post-resurrection ministry "... all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day He was taken up to heaven ... He presented himself alive with many convincing proofs ... spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God." Luke noted the instructions of Jesus as to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the responsibility of His Apostles to "... be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth." As they watched His ascent home to Heaven angels appeared next to them to remind them that He would return in the same way. They traveled the half of a mile back to Jerusalem and gathered in the upstairs room that had become their most recent temporary place for fellowship; the gathered included the eleven living apostles, many believing men and women, Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers, and together the gathering of about one hundred and twenty prayed. Peter addressed the group, reminding them of the prophesy that Jesus would be betrayed by someone close to Him, and then that they were [according to Psalms 109:8) fill Judas' now-vacant place of responsibility. They prayed and the Holy Spirit led them to choose Matthias. Interaction Consider Jesus instructed the apostles, to pass this on to all believers, that we are to "... be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth." Discuss How could anyone believe a false claim to the Messiah-returned for the One True Jesus? Note: There are many speculations from people as to the return of Christ. Observe again the clear message of the Gospels, repeated here in Acts, that Jesus will return as He departed - down from the clouds in plain view. (Elsewhere we read that everyone will see His return all at once, accompanied by the blowing of horns.) Reflect There was, and is, an intimate and peer-like relationship between men and women of true Biblical-Christian faith. Many of the institutional religious hierarchies, and the separation of the genders, are not seen in this part of the Word of God. Share When have you experienced or observed the powerful and unique sense of family in a gathering of Christian believers? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you how He would have you "... be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth." Action: Today I will humbly receive Your mission and I will prayerfully, in consultation with mature fellow believers, make plans to fulfill Your calling. It may be to share Your story with a fellow student or co-worker, a friend or family member, or the leader of a community in a far away land. It may be, rather, to assist a person or group in their efforts to reach a person or persons with the message of salvation. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Monday's text will be: *Acts 2:1-2:41* -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sun Oct 9 20:52:54 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:52:54 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Monday - Acts 2:1-2:41 Message-ID: <4E9241E6.3070003@bibleseven.com> Monday *Acts 2:1-2:41* The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost 2:1 Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2:2 Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. 2:3 And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. 2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. 2:6 When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 2:7 Completely baffled, they said, "Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? 2:8 And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language? 2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 2:11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs -- we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!" 2:12 All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 2:13 But others jeered at the speakers, saying, "They are drunk on new wine!" Peter's Address on the Day of Pentecost 2:14 But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: "You men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this and listen carefully to what I say. 2:15 In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 2:16 But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel: 2:17 '/*And*/ in the last days /*it will be,*/' /*God says,*/ '/*that I will pour out my Spirit on all people,*/ and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, *and your old men will dream dreams*. 2:18 /*Even on my servants,*/ /*both men and women,*/ *I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy*. 2:19 /*And I will perform wonders in the sky*/ /*above*/ /*and miraculous signs*/ /*on the earth below,*/ *blood and fire and clouds of smoke*. 2:20 /*The sun will be changed to darkness*/ and the moon to blood /*before the great and glorious*/ /*day of the Lord comes*//./ 2:21 /*And then*/ /*everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved*//./' 2:22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know -- 2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 2:24 But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. 2:25 For David says about him, '/*I saw the Lord always in front of me,*/ *for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken*. 2:26 /*Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced;*/ /*my body*/ /*also will live in hope,*/ 2:27 /*because you will not leave my soul in Hades,*/ /*nor permit your Holy One to experience*/ /*decay*//./ 2:28 /*You have made known to me the paths of life;*/ /*you will make me full of joy with your presence*//./' 2:29 "Brothers, I can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 2:30 So then, because he was a prophet and knew that God /had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants/ /on his throne/, 2:31 David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that /he was neither abandoned to Hades/, nor did his body /experience/ /decay/. 2:32 This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it. 2:33 So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear. 2:34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says, '/*The Lord said to my lord,*/ "/*Sit*/ /*at my right hand*/ 2:35 /*until I make your enemies a footstool*/ /*for your feet*//./"' 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." The Response to Peter's Address 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were acutely distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "What should we do, brothers?" 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 2:39 For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself." 2:40 With many other words he testified and exhorted them saying, "Save yourselves from this perverse generation!" 2:41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added. Prayer Lord, You offer blessings and gifts, sometimes people accept them -- often many do not. May I accept the wisdom of your indwelling Holy Spirit and receive what You offer as an equipping for service to You. Summary & Commentary The Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles, and perhaps many or all of the other 120 members of the close-knit group of believers who had been gathering at the upstairs room. They were in a public area surrounded by "Jews from every nation under Heaven" as well as non-Jewish converts to Judaism, Cretans, and Arabs who had gathered for the celebration of Pentecost. Verse 2:4 is very clear that when the Holy Spirit came upon them they spoke in "other languages" and 2:8 that those languages represented the native tongues of people in the crowd. The curious among them wondered what it could mean, the unteachable among them jeered and accused them of being drunk - though such a claim had no relevance to the evidence at all. Peter declared to those gathered for Pentecost that not only were they not drunk that they were fulfilling prophesy from Joel and Jesus. Many people responded repentantly to Peter's message and about three thousand were baptized. [It is worthy of note that vss 2:40-41 include the text ""Save yourselves from this perverse generation!" So those who accepted his message were baptized," another clear statement of the large invitation and the voluntary choice of individuals.] Interaction Consider God chose to bring the Holy Spirit upon the believers in the presence of non-believers across many ethnicities, nationalities, races, and religious traditions. Discuss There was a fundamental difference between the scoffers and those who sought truth, and the resultant understanding of those seeking truth vs the blindness of the others. Have you observed the same divergent response among modern listeners? Reflect Reflect upon the various teachings about "speaking in tongues" and how this text only addresses the miracle of a capacity to share the truth of God in a foreign language previously unknown to the speaker - but native to his or her listener. It does not say here that a "heavenly language" does not exist, it merely excludes this specific text from support of such a "gift". Reflect also upon the various teachings as to how one comes to the final moment of saving faith, some which claim all will be saved, others which claim only those predestined will be saved, and yet another claim that only those who persist in "good works" will be saved -- this text says otherwise -- that those who heard God's truth and believed came forward to be affirmed and baptized. [Note: It is not the baptism that saved them but their acknowledgment of God's truth and their willing submission to it.] Share When have you been among a group of people who experienced the same event yet interpreted the meaning of the differently? Faith in Action Prayer: Today I will ask the Lord for the boldness to share His story with someone who is teachable but unfamiliar with the language and message of the Bible - perhaps they have never heard or have only heard man-made religious distortions or the lies of the Enemy. I will also prayerfully seek an opportunity to share with a fellow believer something new that God has revealed to me that previously seemed like a foreign language but now is clear. Action: Today I will step-put in faith and with the boldness and clarity of the Holy Spirit to be His instrument of hope and of truth. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Tuesday's text will be: *Acts 2:42-47* -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Mon Oct 10 20:55:40 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:55:40 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Tuesday - Acts 2:42-47 Message-ID: <4E93940C.9060403@bibleseven.com> Tuesday *Acts 2:42-47* The Fellowship of the Early Believers 2:42 They were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 2:43 Reverential awe came over everyone, and many wonders and miraculous signs came about by the apostles. 2:44 All who believed were together and held everything in common, 2:45 and they began selling their property and possessions and distributing the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need. 2:46 Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts, 2:47 praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved. Prayer Lord, You call the members of Your family into an intimate relationship with you and one-another, and interdependent relationship with one-another. May I invest in fellow believers so that we may be come more-faithful in caring for each other and growing together in You. Summary & Commentary The fellowship among the early believers consisted of a pattern of disciplines; "... devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching", "...and to fellowship", "... to the breaking or bread", "and to prayer." The apostles taught the message of Jesus as the fulfillment of prophesy in the context of the narratives of the Creation, Fall, and the history that followed. [Note: Study of the Word of God, facilitated by those who have demonstrated Biblical knowledge and spiritual maturity is an important model for Christians.] The fellowship of the believers is shown here as a continuous and intentional investment of energy and time. [Note: Fellowship among believers built community, intimacy, and a sense of 'family' that went beyond the mere genetic or legal traditional family.] For the early believers breaking bread together served both social and symbolic purposes. [Note: Breaking bread has two possible meanings, one is the "Lord's Supper", also known as communion, as it is part of a special time of structured worship, and the other refers to a meal shared with others, not necessarily believers, especially in the common use of the term. In verse 2:42 it likely refers to a casual reenactment of the Lord's Supper whereas in 2:46 it likely refers to sharing a meal with others.] Their investment of time and attention in prayer is an explanation of their intimacy with God and their power to endure suffering and experience the power of God's presence. [Note: The pattern of prayer modeled by Jesus found early and important emphasis throughout the text of the New Testament texts. As the early believers studied under the apostles they learned about prayer throughout the history of prophets and other faithful servants of God and were reminded of prayer in the life of Jesus and His closest followers.] "Reverential awe" for the power of God came upon them all as a result of these disciplines which was enhanced by "... many wonders and miraculous signs ... by the apostles." [Note: Their faithfulness to the "Greatest Commandment" of Jesus created a spiritual environment where God's power flowed freely.] "All who believed were together and held everything in common ..." so that resources were fully shared within the family of Christ. [Note: This was at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, not a mandate of the secular State, nor by the manipulative guilt-motivation of a charismatic human.] "And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved." [Note: Because of their faithfulness God was able to use them powerfully and trust them to disciple those whom He sent.] Interaction Consider Consider your spiritual disciplines, do they include study, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer? Discuss Do you take those disciplines "to the streets" among fellow believers, sharing resources, sharing meals, enjoying fellowship, praising God, and building good will? Reflect As your fellowship matures is God sending more? Share When have you experienced or observed an truly-intimate Christian fellowship? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to motivate you to be faithful to mature quickly through intentional discipline, dedicated fellowship, and service in His name so that He may bless your fellowship with others who may also share in His blessings and then go forth to multiply the model into similar fellowships. Action: Today I will prayerfully review my daily and weekly disciplines in order to make study, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer represent a non-negotiable core. I will also look at my calendar to assure that sharing resources, sharing meals, enjoying fellowship, praising God, and building good will are integral to it. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Wednesday's text will be: Acts 3 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Tue Oct 11 20:26:57 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:26:57 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Wednesday - Acts 3 Message-ID: <4E94DED1.2070000@bibleseven.com> Wednesday Acts 3 Peter and John Heal a Lame Man at the Temple 3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time for prayer, at three o'clock in the afternoon. 3:2 And a man lame from birth was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called "the Beautiful Gate" every day so he could beg for money from those going into the temple courts. 3:3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts, he asked them for money. 3:4 Peter looked directly at him (as did John) and said, "Look at us!" 3:5 So the lame man paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. 3:6 But Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, stand up and walk!" 3:7 Then Peter took hold of him by the right hand and raised him up, and at once the man's feet and ankles were made strong. 3:8 He jumped up, stood and began walking around, and he entered the temple courts with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 3:9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 3:10 and they recognized him as the man who used to sit and ask for donations at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with astonishment and amazement at what had happened to him. Peter Addresses the Crowd 3:11 While the man was hanging on to Peter and John, all the people, completely astounded, ran together to them in the covered walkway called Solomon's Portico. 3:12 When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us as if we had made this man walk by our own power or piety? 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate after he had decided to release him. 3:14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 3:15 You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! 3:16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus' name, his very name has made this man -- whom you see and know -- strong. The faith that is through Jesus has given him this complete health in the presence of you all. 3:17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance, as your rulers did too. 3:18 But the things God foretold long ago through all the prophets -- that his Christ would suffer -- he has fulfilled in this way. 3:19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, 3:20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you -- that is, Jesus. 3:21 This one heaven must receive until the time all things are restored, which God declared from times long ago through his holy prophets. 3:22 Moses said, '/*The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers*//. //*You must obey*/ /*him in everything he tells you*/. 3:23 /*Every person*/ /*who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed*/ /*from the people*/.' 3:24 And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced these days. 3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, '/*And in your descendants*/ /*all the nations*/ /*of the earth will be blessed*/.' 3:26 God raised up his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each one of you from your iniquities." Prayer Lord, You proclaimed the coming of the Messiah from the moment You declared the consequences of Adam and Eve's rebellion in the Garden, then over and over throughout history, because only a perfect One of Heaven could redeem us. May I never forget that all hope and all power for good comes from You. Summary & Commentary Peter and John heal a lame man at the Temple, he wanted money, they gave him the miracle gift of healing "... on the basis of faith in Jesus' name". Once healed he responded with uninhibited praise for God. Peter used the wonder of those observing this miracle as an occasion to chastise them to repentance. He noted that it was the power of God and not their "power or piety" which caused the healing. He reminds them that they killed the "Originator of Life" and that their only hope for redemption was found in Him. In 3:26 Peter also reminds them that their "iniquities" are not singular but multiple; that they are guilty of rejecting and murdering Jesus but are also guilty of other sins. Interaction Consider The people knew enough from the Old Testament prophets to have recognized the Messiah, yet they were blinded by bad teaching and sick hearts, and so they not only killed Him -- they continued to resist His offer of redemption. Discuss Why was it so important that Peter make clear that the healing was totally a work of Christ and that he was merely His instrument? Reflect There were many things for which the death and resurrection of Christ provided forgiveness, the obvious one is our prior rejection of Him, but what of the many ways that our rebellion against God has showed itself in a variety of sins? Share When have you, or someone you know, been healed. Did you, or they, respond with uninhibited praise for God? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to remind me of a healing work He has done in you. It may be emotional, intellectual, physical, or spiritual. In each case it would have been something that you could not done of your own strengths or talents. Action: Today I will share with another believer my uninhibited praise for God Who has forgiven me and I will praise Him specifically for at least one healing He has done and/or one sin from which He has set me free. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Thursday's text will be: *Acts 4:1-31* -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From fmiller at lightlink.com Wed Oct 12 22:26:00 2011 From: fmiller at lightlink.com (Fred A. Miller) Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:26:00 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] OT: What Is The New Apostolic Reformation? (And Why Should We Be Concerned About It?) Message-ID: <4E964C38.8050406@lightlink.com> In somewhat the same way, a new movement - with some pretty strange beliefs - inside of Christian evangelicalism called the *New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) * has gathered lethal momentum very unexpectedly. This movement had up until recently only been taught and believed inside the hyper-charismatic movement (think IHOP, Kansas City Prophets, Mike Bickle, etc.). But now, having somehow "jumped" from its normal carrier, rather than being "contained" as a strange belief system that would only impact a limited number of people, it suddenly began to go viral when big names on the political right began to align themselves with the big names from the charismatic Christian side. http://worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid=7636 -- "Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars." - Unknown -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Wed Oct 12 23:38:57 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:38:57 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Thursday - Acts 4:1-31 Message-ID: <4E965D51.9000903@bibleseven.com> Thursday *Acts 4:1-31* The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John 4:1 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, 4:2 angry because they were teaching the people and announcing in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 4:3 So they seized them and put them in jail until the next day (for it was already evening). 4:4 But many of those who had listened to the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 4:5 On the next day, their rulers, elders, and experts in the law came together in Jerusalem. 4:6 Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest's family. 4:7 After making Peter and John stand in their midst, they began to inquire, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, "Rulers of the people and elders, 4:9 if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man -- by what means this man was healed -- 4:10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. 4:11 This Jesus is /*the stone that was rejected by*/ you, /*the builders, that has become the cornerstone*/. 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." 4:13 When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus. 4:14 And because they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this. 4:15 But when they had ordered them to go outside the council, they began to confer with one another, 4:16 saying, "What should we do with these men? For it is plain to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign has come about through them, and we cannot deny it. 4:17 But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name." 4:18 And they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 4:19 But Peter and John replied, "Whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God, you decide, 4:20 for it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard." 4:21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened. 4:22 For the man, on whom this miraculous sign of healing had been performed, was over forty years old. The Followers of Jesus Pray for Boldness 4:23 When they were released, Peter and John went to their fellow believers and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said to them. 4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said, "Master of all, you who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, 4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through your servant David our forefather, '/*Why do the nations*/ /*rage, and the peoples plot foolish*/ /*things?*/ 4:26 /*The kings of the earth stood together, */and the rulers assembled together, /*against the Lord and against his*/ /*Christ*//./' 4:27 "For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 4:28 to do as much as your power and your plan had decided beforehand would happen. 4:29 And now, Lord, pay attention to their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage, 4:30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." 4:31 When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously. Conditions Among the Early Believers 4:32 The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. 4:33 With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all. 4:34 For there was no one needy among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds from the sales 4:35 and placing them at the apostles' feet. The proceeds were distributed to each, as anyone had need. 4:36 So Joseph, a Levite who was a native of Cyprus, called by the apostles Barnabas (which is translated "son of encouragement"), 4:37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and placed it at the apostles' feet. Prayer Lord, Your truth is undeniable, You make certain that none who seek truth will fail to find it in You. May I intentionally and prayerfully seek truth so that I am always seeking You. Summary & Commentary The religious leaders arrested Peter and John for preaching and teaching Christ - five thousand "men" reportedly believed. [Note: The reference to only to the males (or husbands) in the count was traditional, as it was when the Gospel texts described Jesus feeding the two large gatherings of people. It is difficult to accurately extrapolate to the true numbers, to include all of the women, and the children who had reached the age of accountability.] On the next morning the religious leaders brought Peter and John to trial - Peter instead challenged them with the declaration that Jesus was the power that healed the lame man and was the only One "... by which we must be saved. The religious leaders were unable to deny the truth of the healing so they sent the men out and conferred as to how to silence them - they dared not punish them for fear of the people - so they warned them to be silent. Peter and John explained that silence was not possible, so they were warned again and then set free. " Peter and John shared what had happened and the followers of Jesus prayed for boldness, their confidence was strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and they "... began to speak the word of God courageously." Interaction Consider All of those with worldly power at that time were aligned against Christ-followers. Discuss When challenged by the a resistant seeker or a rebellious enemy of truth which is your most common reaction; flee, apologize and be quiet, angrily confront with your human arguments, or a prayer for peace and wisdom from the Holy Spirit followed by a simple recitation of His-story of our needs met with His sacrificial provision and His blessings for our obedience? Reflect Recalling the boldness of Peter and John - reflect upon your own boldness in the proclamation and teaching of the Word of God. Share When have you experienced or observed false charges being brought against someone and their boldness in the truth caused them to be set free? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to give me the courage to be a good witness for Christ in my life, second to quietly and respectfully tell His-story when challenged for my faith, and third to resist being drawn into debates or discussions with an unteachable unsaved person that can only happen on a walled-off emotional and intellectual level, closed-off to spiritual change. Action: Today I will, as the Lord trusts and uses me, reach out to a teachable person who is considering-Christ and I will share His-Story. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Friday's text will be: *Acts 4:32-5:11* -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Thu Oct 13 22:34:41 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:34:41 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Friday - Acts 4:32-5:11 Message-ID: <4E979FC1.40802@bibleseven.com> Friday *Acts 4:32-5:11* Conditions Among the Early Believers 4:32 The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. 4:33 With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all. 4:34 For there was no one needy among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds from the sales 4:35 and placing them at the apostles' feet. The proceeds were distributed to each, as anyone had need. 4:36 So Joseph, a Levite who was a native of Cyprus, called by the apostles Barnabas (which is translated "son of encouragement"), 4:37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and placed it at the apostles' feet. The Judgment on Ananias and Sapphira 5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. 5:2 He kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife's knowledge; he brought only part of it and placed it at the apostles' feet. 5:3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of the land? 5:4 Before it was sold, did it not belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God!" 5:5 When Ananias heard these words he collapsed and died, and great fear gripped all who heard about it. 5:6 So the young men came, wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. 5:7 After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, but she did not know what had happened. 5:8 Peter said to her, "Tell me, were the two of you paid this amount for the land?" Sapphira said, "Yes, that much." 5:9 Peter then told her, "Why have you agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!" 5:10 At once she collapsed at his feet and died. So when the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 5:11 Great fear gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things. Prayer Lord, You have invited humankind to learn and to share in Your love. May I seek You in all things, especially in my relationships with fellow Christians. Summary & Commentary Conditions among early believers were like the most healthy and loving family, sharing every resource necessary to assure that no member of the family was in need. [Note: This was not forced, as in a political statement from the community leaders (the Apostles), but was a voluntary response to the blessings and power of God through the Apostles and being poured out among the believers.] Barnabas was one member who sold a field and brought the proceeds to the Apostles for distribution to needy believers. Ananias and Sapphira, seeking the praise of man without true sacrifice, sold property and lied to Peter and the Church claiming to have done as Barnabas in giving the entire proceeds. The discernment of the Holy Spirit in Peter revealed their deception and God took their lives. [Note: It was not necessary for them to give all of the proceeds, it was merely expected that they be honest as to what they were sharing.] Interaction Consider Verse 5:11 is the first place in ACTS where the text refers to the believing Christian community as "the church". Reflect a moment on the confusion when people began to refer to buildings and man-made organizations as "the church" in contradiction to God's purpose for that term. Discuss Have you ever observed Christians who make a big show of doing or giving, overstating what they were doing or giving so as to garner praise? Were the leaders aware of the deception and did they correct or ignore it? What was the result? Reflect Reflect upon a time, if you have experienced this, when you were among truly unselfish people who shared a common value system and who shared everything so that none in the group had a need. Perhaps it was on a retreat or a missions trip or as part of a sports-related activity or some other small group. Try to imagine that as a whole-life 24/7 philosophy of life. Share When have you observed confusion between man-made institutions and organizations and the true Biblical definition of the people and purpose of "The Church?" Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit reveal to you someone whom He wants you to encourage and pray who is generous toward fellow believers Action: Today I will encourage and pray for someone who is generous toward fellow believers in loving response to them as "eternal family in Christ". I will pray for small communities of believers to become more intentional in serving one from the bounty and gifts and talents God has given. I will also pray for the gift of discernment for leaders to recognize and challenge deception and selfish self-promotion among the Christian family. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Saturday's text will be: *Acts 5:12-42* -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From fmiller at lightlink.com Thu Oct 13 23:02:18 2011 From: fmiller at lightlink.com (Fred A. Miller) Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:02:18 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] OT: He's gonna upgrade......... Message-ID: <4E97A63A.6090409@lightlink.com> -- "Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars." - Unknown -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 74606 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Fri Oct 14 23:39:15 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:39:15 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Saturday - Acts 5:12-42 Message-ID: <4E990063.7080007@bibleseven.com> Saturday *Acts 5:12-42* The Apostles Perform Miraculous Signs and Wonders 5:12 Now many miraculous signs and wonders came about among the people through the hands of the apostles. By common consent they were all meeting together in Solomon's Portico. 5:13 None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high honor. 5:14 More and more believers in the Lord were added to their number, crowds of both men and women. 5:15 Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets, and put them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow would fall on some of them. 5:16 A crowd of people from the towns around Jerusalem also came together, bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits. They were all being healed. Further Trouble for the Apostles 5:17 Now the high priest rose up, and all those with him (that is, the religious party of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. 5:18 They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail. 5:19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said, 5:20 "Go and stand in the temple courts and proclaim to the people all the words of this life." 5:21 When they heard this, they entered the temple courts at daybreak and began teaching. Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin -- that is, the whole high council of the Israelites -- and sent to the jail to have the apostles brought before them. 5:22 But the officers who came for them did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 5:23 "We found the jail locked securely and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside." 5:24 Now when the commander of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were greatly puzzled concerning it, wondering what this could be. 5:25 But someone came and reported to them, "Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courts and teaching the people!" 5:26 Then the commander of the temple guard went with the officers and brought the apostles without the use of force (for they were afraid of being stoned by the people). 5:27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, 5:28 saying, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name. Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood on us!" 5:29 But Peter and the apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than people. 5:30 The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging him on a tree. 5:31 God exalted him to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 5:32 And we are witnesses of these events, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him." 5:33 Now when they heard this, they became furious and wanted to execute them. 5:34 But a Pharisee whose name was Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the council and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. 5:35 Then he said to the council, "Men of Israel, pay close attention to what you are about to do to these men. 5:36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it. 5:37 After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census, and incited people to follow him in revolt. He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered. 5:38 So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, it will come to nothing, 5:39 but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found fighting against God." He convinced them, 5:40 and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. 5:41 So they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. 5:42 And every day both in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus was the Christ. Prayer Lord, You heal through Your willing instruments as You deem best, and You allow the troubles of the world to afflict those same servants as a witness to Your power to carry them through and to illustrate the wickedness of the world. May I trust You to use me perfectly, no matter what. Summary & Commentary The believers continued to gather in "Solomon's Portico" which was an open area and part of the larger Temple complex. While the population of the believers continued to grow many others avoided them for fear of the religious authorities. People brought the physically and spiritually ill for the Apostles to heal. The Apostles were used of God to perform other miraculous signs and wonders as evidence of God's anointing. The religious authorities were jealous, a mixture of their desire to preserve the purity of their religious traditions and their more personal selfish desire to retain the devotion of the people for themselves. They had the Apostles arrested and jailed but early in the morning an Angel released them from the jail, without disturbing the locked doors or alerting the guards, and sent them to preach and teach again. The religious authorities sent for them, requesting that they come peaceably as the crowds favored the Apostles, and the Apostles came. The religious leaders chastised them for preaching and teaching when they had told them to not do so - to which they replied that they must obey God and not man. The religious authorities were furious and wanted to execute them but Gamaliel reminded them that men with small followings before had been killed and their followings dispersed, this was different and they did not want to risk a fight with God, so let them go and let God sort out what would happen. The religious authorities had them lashed "forty times minus one" for disobedience to them then released them with a warning to not preach and teach. They left celebrating that their faithfulness to God had resulted in worthiness to be punished by His enemies then resumed their preaching and teaching in the Temple court and house to house. Interaction Consider Do you know of people in your neighborhood, school, workplace, or other network of associates who avoid Christian gatherings and/or discussions for fear of the opinions of others? Or are you struggling with that yourself? Discuss Have you experienced, or observed, punishment for faithfulness to God? Reflect Was the response a celebration that the faithfulness so challenged others that they punished them? Did you, or they, persevere in preaching and teaching His-story despite the risks? Share When have you observed people in religious or secular authority persecuting those whom they believe have violated some custom or tradition that they hold valuable, even though it is either non-Biblical or simply silly even in a secular world? Have you done that in the past? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to grant freedom from fear, for myself or others, so that God's truth will be more important than the opinions of mere humans. Also, that people in authority will allow their eyes to be opened by the Holy Spirit to the difference between their petty human customs and traditions and the truth of God. Action: Today I will identify someone in local, national, or international ministry, perhaps missions or public service or a religious role who has been or is being persecuted for their Christian faith and pray in agreement for perseverance, protection, and power. I will also attempt to respectfully communicate a word of encouragement via E-mail or letter. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Sunday's text will be: Acts 6:1-7 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sat Oct 15 09:52:23 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:52:23 +0800 Subject: [Linux4christians] Sunday - Acts 6:1-7 Message-ID: <4E999017.8090306@bibleseven.com> Sunday Acts 6:1-7 The Appointment of the First Seven Deacons 6:1 Now in those days, when the disciples were growing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Hebraic Jews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 6:2 So the twelve called the whole group of the disciples together and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. 6:3 But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who are well-attested, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this necessary task. 6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." 6:5 The proposal pleased the entire group, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch. 6:6 They stood these men before the apostles, who prayed and placed their hands on them. 6:7 The word of God continued to spread, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith. Prayer Lord, Your desire was for the early Church members to be a true family, to care for one-another without regard for those worldly things which You specifically excluded "Neither male nor female, old nor young, Greek nor Hebrew". May I love my fellow believer and treat no one differently because of a worldly-priority that is not a Godly-priority. Summary & Commentary The early Biblical Christian community was in agreement with the Lord God that the care of all of their members was a high priority. Because of Biblical history, and the current socio-economic challenges of believers in an unfriendly society, widows were of special concern. Within the population of Jewish converts to Christianity were two large sub-groups, the more traditional Hebrew-speaking (and overwhelmingly Jewish descended), and the newer Greek-speaking and culturally less-traditional (generally non-Jewish) group. The Greek-speaking group complained that their widows were being unfairly under-served by the majority Hebrew-speaking leaders. This represented a significant challenge to trust within the early believing community. The twelve Apostles called together all of the disciples. [Note: This would have been a large number of people as all believers are disciples and the Church had been growing rapidly. It may have referred to a leadership group of some sort rather than every believer.] They declared that their first obligation to Jesus was to preach and to teach; therefore, there was a need for some others to be recruited. These were to be prayerfully and reflectively identified ed as called by the Lord God to manage food and other physical care-giving resources. The first seven "deacons" were to be "... men who are well-attested [respected by their peer-believers], full of the Spirit [saved], and (full of) of wisdom. [There was no stated Biblical reason to select only men but to have selected women at this time may have created an avoidable cultural rift in the early Biblical Christian community. There are no grounds in this immediate text to extrapolate a male-only mandate for a deacon.] Interaction Consider Could your worship and study and prayer and fellowship group identify seven who would meet the qualification for a "deacon" who are "... well-attested [respected by their peer-believers], full of the Spirit [saved], and (full of) of wisdom? Discuss Have you observed cultural sub-groups, cliques, within groups identified as "Christian"? Have you observed favoritism, intentional or unintentional, among the sub-groups? Reflect Reflecting on the dedication of the early Church to the care of the needs of their "members" then contemplate how our modern building-centric, program-centric churches prioritize the same level of commitment to care. When so many resources and so much time are diverted to buildings and to programs is it reasonable to expect awareness of true needs among all of the "members", not to mention actually meeting those needs? Share When have you observed an effort to use ACTS 6:3-8 as justification to exclude women from a deacon-like role? [Note: There may be other NT texts that restrain a woman from serving in a deacon-like role, the point here is that this is not intended to do so and should not be misused as proof-text or otherwise misrepresented.] Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to pray that the gathering of believers with which you are associated (be it a traditional organization, a "house church", or some other format), will emulate the early Church in their Biblical priorities. Action: Today I will pray in agreement with an individual or organization standing for Christ (based on a Biblical principle, not misusing the name Christ to justify a personal crusade) despite attacks from individuals and/or organizations (perhaps even the government). Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Monday's text will be: Acts 6:8-7:16 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sun Oct 16 08:59:06 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:59:06 +0800 Subject: [Linux4christians] Monday - Acts 6:8-7:16 Message-ID: <4E9AD51A.1060100@bibleseven.com> Monday Acts 6:8-7:16 Stephen is Arrested 6:8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. 6:9 But some men from the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, as well as some from Cilicia and the province of Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. 6:10 Yet they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. 6:11 Then they secretly instigated some men to say, "We have heard this man speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God." 6:12 They incited the people, the elders, and the experts in the law; then they approached Stephen, seized him, and brought him before the council. 6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, "This man does not stop saying things against this holy place and the law. 6:14 For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us." 6:15 All who were sitting in the council looked intently at Stephen and saw his face was like the face of an angel. Stephen's Defense Before the Council 7:1 Then the high priest said, "Are these things true?" 7:2 So he replied, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, 7:3 and said to him, '/*Go out from your country and from your relatives, and come to the land I will show you*/.' 7:4 Then he went out from the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this country where you now live. 7:5 He did not give any of it to him for an inheritance, not even a foot of ground, yet God promised /to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him/, even though Abraham as yet had no child. 7:6 But God spoke as follows: 'Your /*descendants will be foreigners*/ /*in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for four hundred years*/. 7:7 /*But I will punish*/ /*the nation they serve as slaves*/,' said God, '/*and after these things they will come out of there*/ and /worship/ /me in this place/.' 7:8 Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 7:9 The patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. But God was with him, 7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 7:11 Then a famine occurred throughout Egypt and Canaan, causing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 7:12 So when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time. 7:13 On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. 7:14 So Joseph sent a message and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people in all. 7:15 So Jacob went down to Egypt and died there, along with our ancestors, 7:16 and their bones were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. Prayer Lord, You called Stephen to Your service and You guided him as he reminded them of Your story. May I be more concerned about telling Your story than trying to defend or to promote my own. Summary & Commentary Stephen, one of the first seven Deacons, is performing "... great wonders and miraculous signs among the people." [From the NET Translator's Notes: Although during the ministry of Jesus there were some who mimicked the casting-out of demons and other acts of power, about whom Jesus said if they did so in His name they'd be unable to criticize Him for a while, Stephen is the first non-Apostle described in the same terms "great wonders and miraculous signs" as the Apostles.] Members (and perhaps descendants of) former slaves who had formed a religious organization known as the ""Freedmen" disliked Stephen's Christian ministry work. As other religious leaders had done before them with Jesus they had Stephen arrested on deliberately falsified charges. Stephen begins his defense before the Council - as did Jesus and Peter and John before him - with a review of history. God appeared to Abraham, our ancestor, and instructed him to leave Mesopotamia - trusting God to show the way to an unknown new homeland. God led Abraham to Haran then after his father died moved him again to "the Promised Land", but at this time did not give it to him as an "inheritance" but only as a "possession". This "possession" was for Abraham and "his descendants", though he had no children yet. [The language here is awkward in English but vss 7:4-5 appears to recognize a right for Abraham and his people to live there but to not treat it as their permanent and exclusive property, at least not yet based on this text.] Abraham's descendant's were to become slaves in a foreign land [Egypt] but God would punish Egypt and bring them back to the Promised Land. [Note: This is a prophesy re. Egypt - observe that this text is out of chronological order since Stephen then describes the events leading up to the Egyptian captivity.] God gave Abraham the "covenant of circumcision" then a son, Isaac, who had Jacob, who then had ten of the twelve "Patriarchs" from whom came the twelve tribes of Israel. [Ten of the Patriarchs of Israel were from the twelve sons of Jacob, excluding Levi and Joseph. Levi's descendants were cut-off and it was Joseph's two sons who occupied the other two of the Twelve Patriarchal positions. Asher, Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, Gad, Issachar, Judah, Manasseh, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, Zebulun.] Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers then rescued by God Whose plan it was to bring him into the favor of Pharaoh so as to provide food for Egypt and for Jacob's family who would come to buy grain and discover Joseph alive. Jacob and the extended family of seventy-five moved to Egypt and multiplied rapidly there Interaction Consider The Lord God God entrusted Stephen with power because his character and faithfulness to God made him trustworthy. Discuss The evidence of Abraham's trust in God may be seen in his attitude and his actions, what that might look like in your life? Reflect The text says some important things about Stephen which gives us guidance as to the qualifications for a Deacon and for the expectations of a maturing-believer. Share When have you contemplated the faithfulness of God in converting Joseph's predicament into provision? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to compare the character of Stephen to your own character, on a regular basis, as a Biblical source of accountability and a Biblical source of reference for your growing maturity. Action: Today I will celebrate a time in my life when the world set me up for failure and God intervened and transformed it to good. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Tuesday's text will be: Acts 7:17-50 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From fmiller at lightlink.com Mon Oct 17 21:01:35 2011 From: fmiller at lightlink.com (Fred A. Miller) Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:01:35 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] OT: My view of Heaven Message-ID: <4E9CCFEF.7030708@lightlink.com> *17-year-old Brian Moore had only a short time to write something for a class. The subject was Heaven was like. "I wowed 'em," he later told his father, Bruce. It's a killer. It's the bomb. It's the best thing I ever wrote." It also was the last.* *Brian's parents had forgotten about the essay when a cousin found it while cleaning out the teenager's locker at Teays Valley High School in Pickaway County Brian had been dead only hours, but his parents desperately wanted every piece of his life near them, notes from classmates and teachers, and his homework. Only two months before, he had handwritten the essay about encountering Jesus in a file room full of cards detailing every moment of the teen's life. But it was only after Brian's death that Beth and Bruce Moore realized that their son had described his view of heaven.* ** *It makes such an impact that people want to share it. "You feel like you are there," Mr. Moore said. Brian Moore died May 27, 1997, the day after Memorial Day. He was driving home from a friend's house when his car went off Bulen-Pierce Road in Pickaway County and struck a utility pole. He emerged from the wreck unharmed but stepped on a downed power line and was electrocuted. The Moore 's framed a copy of Brian's essay and hung it among the family portraits in the living room. "I think God used him to make a point. I think we were meant to find it and make something out of it," Mrs. Moore said of the essay. She and her husband want to share their son's vision of life after death. "I'm happy for Brian.. I know he's in heaven. I know I'll see him. Here is Brian's essay entitled* */"The Room." Page 1/* */In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings./* */As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards.. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching. A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. "Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given," "Jokes I Have Laughed at." Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents Often there were many more cards than expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived... Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting.. Each signed with my signature. When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched," I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but more by the vast time I knew that file represented. When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards./* */But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it. Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh. And then I saw it. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused.. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand../* */And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.. No, please not Him... Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response.. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes./* */Why did He have to read every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me. Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, and so alive./* */The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 /** If you feel the same way forward it to as many people as you can so the love of Jesus will touch their lives also. My "People I shared the gospel with" file just got bigger, how about yours? You don't have to share this with anybody, no one will know whether you did or not, but you will know and so will He.* -- "Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars." - Unknown -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com Mon Oct 17 21:31:22 2011 From: usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com (usacomputertech) Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:31:22 -0700 Subject: [Linux4christians] OSCC Message-ID: <4E9CD6EA.8000800@mindblowingidea.com> Be sure to check out the Open Source Christian Community blog: http://opensourcechristiancommunity.blogspot.com/ and Facebook page. -- http://www.youtube.com/usacomputertec Watch My Youtube Videos USA COMPUTER TECH COMPUTER RESCUE Justin Breithaupt (509) 730-5576 (208) 750-5628 e-mail: usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com website: www.mindblowingidea.com/ComputerRescue.html Support Forum: http://justuselinux.iboards.us/ More About Me: http://www.google.com/profiles/usacomputertec They say that money talks, if so what does it say? IN GOD WE TRUST Pastor's Sermons: www.mindblowingidea.com/LutheranTV.html Open Source Christian Community Blog: http://opensourcechristiancommunity.blogspot.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/justin.breithaupt -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 760x100_watchmyvideos.png Type: image/png Size: 16309 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: in_god_we_trust.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 16087 bytes Desc: not available URL: From usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com Mon Oct 17 21:44:02 2011 From: usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com (usacomputertech) Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:44:02 -0700 Subject: [Linux4christians] OSCC In-Reply-To: <4E9CD6EA.8000800@mindblowingidea.com> References: <4E9CD6EA.8000800@mindblowingidea.com> Message-ID: <4E9CD9E2.6000100@mindblowingidea.com> Almost forgot, anyone who has something to share, that's not part of a denomination may share it on the FB page, or submit it to me to be posted on our blog. On 10/17/2011 06:31 PM, usacomputertech wrote: > Be sure to check out the Open Source Christian Community blog: > http://opensourcechristiancommunity.blogspot.com/ > and Facebook page. > > > -- > http://www.youtube.com/usacomputertec > Watch My Youtube Videos > > USA COMPUTER TECH > COMPUTER RESCUE > > Justin Breithaupt > (509) 730-5576 > (208) 750-5628 > > e-mail: usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com > > website: www.mindblowingidea.com/ComputerRescue.html > > Support Forum: http://justuselinux.iboards.us/ > > More About Me: http://www.google.com/profiles/usacomputertec > They say that money talks, if so what does it say? > > IN GOD WE TRUST > > Pastor's Sermons: www.mindblowingidea.com/LutheranTV.html > Open Source Christian Community Blog: > http://opensourcechristiancommunity.blogspot.com > Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/justin.breithaupt > > > _______________________________________________ > Linux4christians mailing list > Linux4christians at thelinuxlink.net > http://www.thelinuxlink.net/mailman/listinfo/linux4christians -- http://www.youtube.com/usacomputertec Watch My Youtube Videos USA COMPUTER TECH COMPUTER RESCUE Justin Breithaupt (509) 730-5576 (208) 750-5628 e-mail: usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com website: www.mindblowingidea.com/ComputerRescue.html Support Forum: http://justuselinux.iboards.us/ More About Me: http://www.google.com/profiles/usacomputertec They say that money talks, if so what does it say? IN GOD WE TRUST Pastor's Sermons: www.mindblowingidea.com/LutheranTV.html Open Source Christian Community Blog: http://opensourcechristiancommunity.blogspot.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/justin.breithaupt -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/png Size: 16309 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 16087 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 760x100_watchmyvideos.png Type: image/png Size: 16309 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: in_god_we_trust.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 16087 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Mon Oct 17 11:12:36 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:12:36 +0800 Subject: [Linux4christians] Tuesday - Acts 7:17-50 Message-ID: <4E9C45E4.2080605@bibleseven.com> Tuesday Acts 7:17-50 7:17 "But as the time drew near for God to fulfill the promise he had declared to Abraham, the people increased greatly in number in Egypt, 7:18 until /*another*//**//*king*//**//*who*//**//*did*//**//*not*//**//*know*//**//*about*/ /*Joseph*//**//*ruled*/ /*over*//**//*Egypt*/. 7:19 This was the one who exploited our people and was cruel to our ancestors, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die. 7:20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. For three months he was brought up in his father's house, 7:21 and when he had been abandoned, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 7:22 So Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds. 7:23 But when he was about forty years old, it entered his mind to visit his fellow countrymen the Israelites. 7:24 When he saw one of them being hurt unfairly, Moses came to his defense and avenged the person who was mistreated by striking down the Egyptian. 7:25 He thought his own people would understand that God was delivering them through him, but they did not understand. 7:26 The next day Moses saw two men fighting, and tried to make peace between them, saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why are you hurting one another?' 7:27 But the man who was unfairly hurting his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, '/*Who*//**//*made*/ /*you*//**//*a*//**//*ruler*//**//*and*//**//*judge*//**//*over*//**//*us?*/ 7:28 /*You*//**//*don*//*'*//*t*//**//*want*//**//*to*//**//*kill*//**//*me*//**//*the*//**//*way*//**//*you*//**//*killed*//**//*the*//**//*Egyptian*//**//*yesterday,*//**//*do*//**//*you?*/' 7:29 When the man said this, Moses fled and became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. 7:30 "After forty years had passed, /an////angel////appeared////to////him////in////the////desert/ /of////Mount////Sinai,////in////the////flame////of////a////burning////bush/. 7:31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached to investigate, there came the voice of the Lord, 7:32 '/*I*//**//*am*//**//*the*//**//*God*//**//*of*//**//*your*//**//*forefathers,*/ /*the*//**//*God*//**//*of*//**//*Abraham,*//**//*Isaac,*/ /*and*//**//*Jacob*/.' Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look more closely. 7:33 /*But*//**//*the*//**//*Lord*//**//*said*//**//*to*//**//*him,*/ '/*Take*//**//*the*//**//*sandals*//**//*off*//**//*your*//**//*feet,*//**//*for*//**//*the*//**//*place*//**//*where*//**//*you*//**//*are*//**//*standing*//**//*is*//**//*holy*//**//*ground*//./ 7:34 /*I*//**//*have*//**//*certainly*//**//*seen*//**//*the*//**//*suffering*/ /*of*//**//*my*//**//*people*//**//*who*//**//*are*//**//*in*//**//*Egypt*//**//*and*/ /*have*//**//*heard*//**//*their*//**//*groaning,*//**//*and*//**//*I*//**//*have*//**//*come*//**//*down*//**//*to*//**//*rescue*//**//*them*//./ /*Now*/ /*come,*//**//*I*//**//*will*//**//*send*//**//*you*//**//*to*//**//*Egypt*/.' 7:35 This same Moses they had rejected, saying, '/*Who*//**//*made*//**//*you*//**//*a*//**//*ruler*//**//*and*//**//*judge?*/' God sent as both ruler and deliverer through the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 7:36 This man led them out, performing wonders and miraculous signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. 7:37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, '/*God*//**//*will*//**//*raise*//**//*up*//**//*for*//**//*you*//**//*a*//**//*prophet*//**//*like*//**//*me*//**//*from*//**//*among*//**//*your*//**//*brothers*/.' 7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, and he received living oracles to give to you. 7:39 Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him, but pushed him aside and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 7:40 saying to Aaron, '/*Make*//**//*us*//**//*gods*//**//*who*//**//*will*//**//*go*//**//*in*//**//*front*//**//*of*//**//*us,*//**//*for*//**//*this*//**//*Moses,*//**//*who*//**//*led*//**//*us*//**//*out*//**//*of*//**//*the*//**//*land*//**//*of*//**//*Egypt*/ -- /*we*//**//*do*//**//*not*//**//*know*//**//*what*//**//*has*//**//*happened*//**//*to*//**//*him!*/' 7:41 At that time they made an idol in the form of a calf, brought a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing in the works of their hands. 7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: '/*It*//**//*was*//**//*not*//**//*to*//**//*me*//**//*that*//**//*you*//**//*offered*//**//*slain*//**//*animals*//**//*and*//**//*sacrifices*/ /*forty*//**//*years*//**//*in*//**//*the*//**//*wilderness,*//**//*was*//**//*it,*/ /*house*//**//*of*//**//*Israel?*/ 7:43 /But////you////took////along////the////tabernacle/ /*of*//**//*Moloch*/ /*and*//**//*the*//**//*star*//**//*of*//**//*the*/ /*god*//**//*Rephan,*/ /*the*//**//*images*//**//*you*//**//*made*//**//*to*//**//*worship,*//**//*but*//**//*I*//**//*will*//**//*deport*/ /*you*//**//*beyond*//**//*Babylon*/.' 7:44 Our ancestors had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as God who spoke to Moses ordered him to make it according to the design he had seen. 7:45 Our ancestors received possession of it and brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors, until the time of David. 7:46 He found favor with God and asked that he could find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob. 7:47 But Solomon built a house for him. 7:48 Yet the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands, as the prophet says, 7:49 '/*Heaven*//**//*is*//**//*my*//**//*throne,*/ /*and*//**//*earth*//**//*is*//**//*the*//**//*footstool*//**//*for*//**//*my*//**//*feet*//./ /*What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,*/ /*or what is my resting place?*/ 7:50 /*Did*//**//*my*//**//*hand*/ /*not*//**//*make*//**//*all*//**//*these*//**//*things?*/' Prayer Lord, You worked around the choices of humankind but were never surprised, and when You dwelt among them You were never controlled or "contained" by them. May I be constantly aware of Your presence in me through Your Holy Spirit and that You do not indwell to serve my desires but to equip me to serve You. Summary & Commentary Stephen continued his review of the Lord God's working in the history of Israel. Over time a new Pharaoh had assumed power and he had no knowledge of the honor due Joseph and his descendants but rather viewed them as free slave labor. Moses was born just as the new Pharaoh, fearful of the size of the Jewish population, initiated a population control protocol. God arranged for the infant Moses to be set adrift and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. He was raised an Egyptian, but was aware of his heritage. As an adult he visited the work site of the Jews, where he was confronted with an abusive situation, he killed the slave-supervisor. When he later confronted two Jews fighting they asked if he intended to kill them as he had the slave-supervisor, so fearing retribution from the Egyptians, he fled Egypt. After forty years God called Moses to lead His people out of bondage. [Note: This is a "type" or symbolic representation of Jesus.] The people resisted the leadership of Moses and even longed to return to slavery in Egypt rather than deal with the challenging unknown of the wilderness. God gave them the "tabernacle of testimony", a traveling altar containing His presence, which was central to the leadership of Joshua and later David. Stephen was careful to note that God does not dwell in [is not contained by] "houses made by human hands". Interaction Consider The Pharaoh forgot the history of Joseph's value to Egypt. Discuss What has been the consequence in modern civilizations or nations that forget the value of God's centrality when they were created, in bring them prosperity, and in their protection? Reflect Some people who refuse to follow healthy leadership and instead return to old things they rightly discarded of fads of the moment. Share When have you observed believers following a leader or participating in a ministry because he or it was popular rather than because it honored the Lord God? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place of bondage from which your He rescued you. Action: Today I will celebrate my freedom from bondage with another believer. I also commit to prayerfully consider under whose authority I voluntarily submit myself and ask if they are God-honoring according to the Biblical qualifications for a "Shepherd" or "Deacon" or if I tend to drift back into religious and social practices of the past and/or chasing after fads of the present, and if so I will repent (turn away) and seek-out where God would take me. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Wednesday's text will be: Acts 7:51 -- 8:3 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Tue Oct 18 10:44:54 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:44:54 +0800 Subject: [Linux4christians] =?windows-1252?q?Wednesday_-_Acts_7=3A51_=96_8?= =?windows-1252?q?=3A3?= Message-ID: <4E9D90E6.70202@bibleseven.com> Wednesday Acts 7:51 ? 8:3 7:51 ?You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! 7:53 You received the law by decrees given by angels, but you did not obey it.? Stephen is Killed 7:54 When they heard these things, they became furious and ground their teeth at him. 7:55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 7:56 ?Look!? he said. ?I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!? 7:57 But they covered their ears, shouting out with a loud voice, and rushed at him with one intent. 7:58 When they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him, and the witnesses laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. 7:59 They continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, ?Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!? 7:60 Then he fell to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, ?Lord, do not hold this sin against them!? When he had said this, he died. 8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing him. Saul Begins to Persecute the Church Now on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. 8:2 Some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. 8:3 But Saul was trying to destroy the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Prayer Lord, You blessed Stephen with clarity and purpose, and You also gave him courage and certainty of salvation. May I also find clarity and purpose and courage in the certainty of my salvation and in the perfect righteousness of the Lord God Whom I serve. Summary & Commentary Stephen concludes his defense with a powerful challenge to the religious leaders, much the same as those previously given by Jesus and Peter and John and is murdered for it - Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr. Immediately prior to his death Stephen is given a vision of Jesus standing next to God the Father, then as he dies Stephen reprises the words of Jesus on the Cross for His killers "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." [Note: Those who murdered Stephen carried enough sin to condemn them endlessly, Stephen perhaps did not want his martyrdom to add to that but instead still longed for them to accept and submit to the saving truth of Jesus.] Saul, who oversaw and approved the stoning of Stephen, initiated a "great persecution" which drove all but the Apostles into hiding. He hunted and imprisoned many in the Church (believers), doing great harm to their fellowship. Interaction Consider The Bible says that all believers will face persecution and that the forces in power and at work in the world today are overwhelmingly aligned against God. Discuss Begin with the context of the historic persecutions of the Church in China, most Muslim nations, and elsewhere - in both the past and in the present. Imagine for the moment that you lived there, how do you think your faith would serve you then? Reflect Stephen demonstrated courage, knowing that the truth would likely cost him his freedom and as-likely his life, he remained undeterred. Share When have you known men and women of truth, not noisy self-important or immaturely noisy people, but humble and mature and thoughtful people who valued truth above all else and spoke it boldly when asked without regard to personal consequence? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you someone who fearlessly shares God's truth whom He wants you encourage with a note or a call or a visit. It may be a missionary, a community or political leader, a religious leader, a student, a co-worker, or someone else who steps out in faith. Action: Today I will pray that political and religious leaders will listen to God and turn away from paths that lead to the repression and persecution of Christians and devastation to everything that they value in this temporary world. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Thursday's text will be: Acts 8:4-40 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From fmiller at lightlink.com Wed Oct 19 00:15:32 2011 From: fmiller at lightlink.com (Fred A. Miller) Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:15:32 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Crypto is cracked: How not to fal Message-ID: <4E9E4EE4.7020204@lightlink.com> *Crypto is cracked: How not to fall in* In order to keep your enterprise safe, you need a proactive security policy that encourages strong, acceptable ciphers, and performs auditing and monitoring to assure the same. Today's cipher is changing. Are you? *Read More* -- "Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars." - Unknown -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Wed Oct 19 08:59:10 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:59:10 +0800 Subject: [Linux4christians] Thursday - Acts 8:4-40 Message-ID: <4E9EC99E.4060808@bibleseven.com> Thursday Acts 8:4-40 Philip Preaches in Samaria 8:4 Now those who had been forced to scatter went around proclaiming the good news of the word. 8:5 Philip went down to the main city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them. 8:6 The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the miraculous signs he was performing. 8:7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, were coming out of many who were possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. 8:8 So there was great joy in that city. 8:9 Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. 8:10 All the people, from the least to the greatest, paid close attention to him, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called 'Great.'" 8:11 And they paid close attention to him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they began to be baptized, both men and women. 8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed. 8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 8:15 These two went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 8:16 (For the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Spirit. 8:18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, offered them money, 8:19 saying, "Give me this power too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit." 8:20 But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire God's gift with money! 8:21 You have no share or part in this matter because your heart is not right before God! 8:22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that he may perhaps forgive you for the intent of your heart. 8:23 For I see that you are bitterly envious and in bondage to sin." 8:24 But Simon replied, "You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said may happen to me." 8:25 So after Peter and John had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many Samaritan villages as they went. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 8:26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert road.) 8:27 So he got up and went. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, 8:28 and was returning home, sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. 8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." 8:30 So Philip ran up to it and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. He asked him, "Do you understand what you're reading?" 8:31 The man replied, "How in the world can I, unless someone guides me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 8:32 Now the passage of scripture the man was reading was this: "/*He*//**//*was*//**//*led*//**//*like*//**//*a*//**//*sheep*//**//*to*//**//*slaughter,*/ /*and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,*/ /*so*//**//*he*//**//*did*/ /*not*//**//*open*//**//*his*//**//*mouth*//./ 8:33 /*In*//**//*humiliation*/ /*justice*//**//*was*//**//*taken*//**//*from*//**//*him*//./ /*Who can describe his posterity?*/ /*For*//**//*his*//**//*life*//**//*was*//**//*taken*//**//*away*/ /*from*//**//*the*//**//*earth*//./" 8:34 Then the eunuch said to Philip, "Please tell me, who is the prophet saying this about -- himself or someone else?" 8:35 So Philip started speaking, and beginning with this scripture proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 8:36 Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look, there is water! What is to stop me from being baptized?" 8:37 [[EMPTY]] 8:38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 8:39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but went on his way rejoicing. 8:40 Philip, however, found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through the area, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Prayer Lord, You empowered those whom You called, and You redeemed good from Saul's evil intent by using the flight of disciples to spread Your Word even further. May I trust You to provide whatever I need to do whatever You ask me to do. Summary & Commentary As the disciples fled Jerusalem in the face of Saul's persecution they were dispersed in Samaria and beyond. The unintended, by Saul, consequence was that the Word was also dispersed. Philip preached Christ in Samaria and performed "miraculous signs" of healing and the casting-out of demons. [Note: This was the second non-Apostle, Stephen was the other (Acts 6:8) reported as exercising this sort of power.] A "magician" called Simon had claimed greatness to himself through acts of "magic" yet as the people around him heard Philip and were baptized, even Simon believed and was baptized. Simon then followed Philip closely in awe of the power flowing through him. Peter and John came to Samaria to pray that the Holy Spirit would come upon the people there. They had been baptized, similar to those baptized by John the Baptist, but they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. [Note: The Apostles were among the few who had not fled in the face of Saul's persecution in Jerusalem.] Simon remains confused and still trapped in his desire to be the focus of attention and the conduit of power, thus he asks the Apostles to sell him the ability to lay-on hands for the delivery of the Holy Spirit to people. Their discernment tells them that his heart is filled with envy, not a desire to serve others, so they rebuke him sternly and instruct him to pray that the Lord may forgive him. They then returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming Christ along the way. An angel directed Philip to leave Samaria and follow the desert/wilderness road that connected Jerusalem to Gaza. Along the way he observed an Ethiopian eunuch, a high official to Queen Candace of the Ethiopians. After visiting the Pentecost celebrations in Jerusalem he was reading Isaiah as he traveled. The Holy Spirit prompted Philip to approach him and ask if he understood what he was reading - he invited Philip to explain Isaiah 53:7-8, which he did. Philip explained how this OT verse prophesied Jesus. The Ethiopian Eunuch immediately asked to be baptized, which Philip did, then the Holy Spirit immediately relocated Philip to Azotus (a city on the southern coast of Palestine). The Eunuch went away rejoicing. Philip proclaimed the good news of Jesus the Christ from Azotus to Caesarea. Interaction Consider Observe the sequence of faithful obedience which resulted in the baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch; Philip travels where directed, Philip approaches the Eunuch, the Eunuch requests discipleship, Philip shares what God has taught him, the Eunuch requests baptism. Discuss When have you observed someone claiming to be a follower of Biblical Christianity, and even assumed a role in leadership based on a charismatic personality, but then was exposed as a charlatan whose focus was really on their own popularity, power, and profit.? Reflect The Ethiopian Eunuch was so teachable that the moment he understood what the Lord God wanted him to do he humbled himself and did so. Share When have you observed that the enemy/the world had successfully attacked a Biblically-faithful ministry then God redeemed it to an even greater effectiveness? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to pray for greater patience and discernment within the family of believers as they select and submit to spiritual shepherds at any level. Action: Today I commit to be available and teachable as the Holy Spirit leads and directs so that He may use me as effectively as He did Philip. I surrender that place of resistance to change and/or risk that I have allowed to be an impediment to Him. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Friday's text will be: Acts 9:1-22 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Thu Oct 20 23:01:48 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:01:48 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Friday - Acts 9:1-22 Message-ID: <4EA0E09C.1050505@bibleseven.com> Friday Acts 9:1-22 The Conversion of Saul 9:1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats to murder the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest 9:2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 9:3 As he was going along, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" 9:5 So he said, "Who are you, Lord?" He replied, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting! 9:6 But stand up and enter the city and you will be told what you must do." 9:7 (Now the men who were traveling with him stood there speechless, because they heard the voice but saw no one.) 9:8 So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, he could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, his companions brought him into Damascus. 9:9 For three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything. 9:10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias," and he replied, "Here I am, Lord." 9:11 Then the Lord told him, "Get up and go to the street called 'Straight,' and at Judas' house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying, 9:12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he may see again." 9:13 But Ananias replied, "Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, 9:14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call on your name!" 9:15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. 9:16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." 9:17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, placed his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 9:18 Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 9:19 and after taking some food, his strength returned. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "This man is the Son of God." 9:21 All who heard him were amazed and were saying, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging those who call on this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners to the chief priests?" 9:22 But Saul became more and more capable, and was causing consternation among the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. Prayer Lord, You made the attacks upon Christians by Saul -- at the behest of the religious leaders -- personal. May I always remember that an attack on Biblical Christian faith, and faithfulness, is always an attack upon You. Summary & Commentary Saul received letters of authority to persecute Christians in Damascus then set off on his evil mission. Jesus appeared to him as "a light from heaven" Saul "fell to the ground". The voice, heard also by those accompanying Saul, challenged him "Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" to which Saul replied "Who are you Lord?" and received "I am Jesus Whom you are persecuting!" Jesus instructed Saul to go to Damascus. Saul was blinded and fasted for three days. Jesus appeared to Ananias in a vision instructing him to overcome his fears and to fulfill the vision given Saul that he would lay hands on him to restore his vision. Jesus informs Ananias that Saul will now be a friend of Christ. Ananias faithfully does as instructed and Saul is baptized. Saul spent several days [Note: The precise length of time is unclear from this text.] and then this former enemy of Christ became an active and effective emissary of Christ in the synagogues of Damascus. Interaction Consider It was the obedient, rather than rebellious, responses which allowed God to use these men for His great plan. Discuss Why did Jesus make it personal and what does that mean to us today? Reflect Even Saul recognized the presence of God and responded with humility. Share When did you, and perhaps also someone whom you know well, transform from an enemy of Christ to a valuable servant of His? How was that transformation obvious to others? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you those places in your life where you have been resistant and/or rebellious, and distracted, and/or procrastinating. Action: Today I will pray that the Lord God will find me obedient where I have been resistant - perhaps even rebellious, and cooperative where I have been distracted or procrastinating. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Saturday's text will be: Acts 9:23-43 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From parrisdc at gmail.com Fri Oct 21 10:03:58 2011 From: parrisdc at gmail.com (Don Parris) Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:03:58 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Preaching the Libre Software Gospel Message-ID: Hi all, I've been silent on the libre software front for a long while now, with just a few posts here and there. After thinking about all of the hulabaloo over the passing of Steve Jobs and other issues, I've written what I hope is a fairly practical response, both to those critical of Steve Jobs and those critical of Richard Stallman. I also hope this post demonstrates its own core message. http://dcparris.net/2011/10/21/preaching-the-libre-software-gospel/ If anyone wants to comment on the blog itself, you'll have to shoot me an e-mail (off-list) so I can setup an account for you. Otherwise, feel free to post on this thread. :-) Blessings, Don -- D.C. Parris, FMP, LEED AP O+M, ESL Certificate Minister, Security/FM Coordinator, Free Software Advocate https://www.xing.com/profile/Don_Parris | http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcparris GPG Key ID: F5E179BE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Fri Oct 21 21:35:01 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:35:01 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Saturday - Acts 9:23-43 Message-ID: <4EA21DC5.7030702@bibleseven.com> Saturday Acts 9:23-43 Saul's Escape from Damascus 9:23 Now after some days had passed, the Jews plotted together to kill him, 9:24 but Saul learned of their plot against him. They were also watching the city gates day and night so that they could kill him. 9:25 But his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall by lowering him in a basket. Saul Returns to Jerusalem 9:26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, he attempted to associate with the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was a disciple. 9:27 But Barnabas took Saul, brought him to the apostles, and related to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. 9:28 So he was staying with them, associating openly with them in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. 9:29 He was speaking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they were trying to kill him. 9:30 When the brothers found out about this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace and thus was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church increased in numbers. Peter Heals Aeneas 9:32 Now as Peter was traveling around from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda. 9:33 He found there a man named Aeneas who had been confined to a mattress for eight years because he was paralyzed. 9:34 Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Get up and make your own bed!" And immediately he got up. 9:35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Peter Raises Dorcas 9:36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which in translation means Dorcas). She was continually doing good deeds and acts of charity. 9:37 At that time she became sick and died. When they had washed her body, they placed it in an upstairs room. 9:38 Because Lydda was near Joppa, when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him and urged him, "Come to us without delay." 9:39 So Peter got up and went with them, and when he arrived they brought him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him, crying and showing him the tunics and other clothing Dorcas used to make while she was with them. 9:40 But Peter sent them all outside, knelt down, and prayed. Turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 9:41 He gave her his hand and helped her get up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her alive. 9:42 This became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 9:43 So Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a man named Simon, a tanner. Prayer Lord, You called Saul -- renamed Paul -- but then he now faced the same deadly persecution that he had directed toward believers. May I serve You faithful without regard to personal sacrifice. Summary & Commentary Paul/Saul had to escape from Damascus because the religious leaders, as had become their pattern, sought to murder him for preaching Christ. Paul/Saul returned to Jerusalem and attempted to fellowship with the disciples there but they still feared and mistrusted him. Barnabas "son of encouragement" brought him to the Apostles with the report of his "Damascus Road experience". They accepted him. Paul/Saul then preached Christ to the Greek-speaking Jews which prompted the murderous religious leaders to conspire against him - leading to Paul/Saul's relocation to Caesarea and then Tarsus. Meanwhile Peter healed Aeneus in Lyddia then raised Dorcas from the dead in Joppa which led to many new believers. Interaction Consider The are many countries in the world where there are restrictions on evangelism (even Israel) and where it is illegal to the point of imprisonment and death. Discuss Does the degree of fear and hatred toward Jesus make it clear what evil power is behind such persecution of and resistance to truth.? Reflect Reflect on the pattern of reaction by those who are rebellious against proclamation of Christ, first they try to suppress the message, then failing they they violently attack the messenger. Share When have you, or someone you know well, had to change their job, their neighborhood, their school, or other place of association due to persecution for their faith? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you someone who has suffered for their faith for whom He wants you to pray and to seek some other way to encourage. Action: Today I will pray that leaders throughout the world will recognize the truth of Christ and at least cease their persecution of the Church, and perhaps even lead their people to faith. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Sunday's text will be: Acts 10 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From l4c at thelinuxlink.net Sat Oct 22 12:10:44 2011 From: l4c at thelinuxlink.net (linc) Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:10:44 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Virtualization Message-ID: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> Opinions needed. Trying to decide whether to change my current server setup. Currently I have an ESxi 4.0 server (actual server hardware) with 4gb ram hanging out in my livingroom. I have waffling at the possibilities of changing this to a faster more cores twice the ram laptop for a server. Less electricity on the bills, less heat, less noise, etc. I could run a lot more VMs comfortably as well. And if so, pursue ESXi again? Does ESX have a free version anymore? Can't find it. What about virtualbox headless? KVM works great too?? Decisions, decisions... -- -Linc Fessenden In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... From bstaggs at staggs.net Sat Oct 22 13:04:44 2011 From: bstaggs at staggs.net (Billy Staggs) Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:04:44 -0500 Subject: [Linux4christians] Virtualization In-Reply-To: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> References: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: <4EA2F7AC.8010805@staggs.net> Opinions? OK, here's my take: Yes a laptop may be quieter and use less power, but seldom do the match the performance of a equally equipped full sized PC (or server), nor do I believe they will last as long running constantly. Just too many compromises made to keep size down. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to give up my laptop, but I wouldn't trade it from my desktop either. Having said that I once ran a laptop with a non-functional LCD as a sever for sometime. On my job we have tested many difference visualization technophiles and without question VMware has came out on top almost every time. It is pretty much the industry standard as far as I can tell. ESXi is pretty much the cheese as far as I am concerned. I am almost ashamed at how long we go between reboots on the host servers. We also run VMware Workstation for testing and lab environment with very good results. I hesitate to say anything on this list, but we have also had good luck with Hyper-V server, but it's not as flexible as ESXi. For what it's worth... -- bstaggs <>< On 10/22/2011 11:10 AM, linc wrote: > Opinions needed. Trying to decide whether to change my current server > setup. Currently I have an ESxi 4.0 server (actual server hardware) > with 4gb ram hanging out in my livingroom. I have waffling at the > possibilities of changing this to a faster more cores twice the ram > laptop for a server. Less electricity on the bills, less heat, less > noise, etc. I could run a lot more VMs comfortably as well. And if > so, pursue ESXi again? Does ESX have a free version anymore? Can't > find it. What about virtualbox headless? KVM works great too?? > > Decisions, decisions... > From hpp3 at lavabit.com Sat Oct 22 14:44:34 2011 From: hpp3 at lavabit.com (Eddy Martin) Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:44:34 -0700 Subject: [Linux4christians] Virtualization In-Reply-To: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> References: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: <4EA30F12.4090702@lavabit.com> On 10/22/2011 09:10 AM, linc wrote: > Opinions needed. Trying to decide whether to change my current server > setup. Currently I have an ESxi 4.0 server (actual server hardware) > with 4gb ram hanging out in my livingroom. I have waffling at the > possibilities of changing this to a faster more cores twice the ram > laptop for a server. Less electricity on the bills, less heat, less > noise, etc. I could run a lot more VMs comfortably as well. And if > so, pursue ESXi again? Does ESX have a free version anymore? Can't > find it. What about virtualbox headless? KVM works great too?? > > Decisions, decisions... > From what I could dig up, ESXi is intended to replace the original ESX. From Wikipedia: " *VMware ESX* is an enterprise-level computer virtualization product offered by VMware, Inc. ESX is a component of VMware's larger offering, VMware Infrastructure , and adds management and reliability services to the core server product. The original ESX is being replaced by ESXi." There is a free implementation of ESXi called vSphere Hypervisor: http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/overview.html Just out of curiosity, what exactly is the benefit of running hypervisors and VM's over a plain ol' home server? I'm running Debian on an old 800MHz box and it does a fine job of providing in-home Samba and NFS shares for system backups and media storage, and I sometimes dink around with a VMWare Player instance of my old Windows XP install, but all this talk of Xen and Hyper-V has been completely off my radar so I'm wondering what (if anything) I'm missing. -Eddy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From l4c at thelinuxlink.net Sat Oct 22 15:33:17 2011 From: l4c at thelinuxlink.net (linc) Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:33:17 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Virtualization In-Reply-To: <4EA30F12.4090702@lavabit.com> References: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> <4EA30F12.4090702@lavabit.com> Message-ID: <4EA31A7D.1020106@thelinuxlink.net> On 10/22/11 2:44 PM, Eddy Martin wrote: > > Just out of curiosity, what exactly is the benefit of running > hypervisors and VM's over a plain ol' home server? > I'm running Debian on an old 800MHz box and it does a fine job of > providing in-home Samba and NFS shares for system backups and media > storage, and I sometimes dink around with a VMWare Player instance of > my old Windows XP install, but all this talk of Xen and Hyper-V has > been completely off my radar so I'm wondering what (if anything) I'm > missing. > > -Eddy Well, I have a lappy available with significant resources. I can exploit those resources to run several servers and test several more with no additional hardware related costs. -- -Linc Fessenden In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From l4c at thelinuxlink.net Sat Oct 22 15:36:22 2011 From: l4c at thelinuxlink.net (linc) Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:36:22 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Virtualization In-Reply-To: <4EA2F7AC.8010805@staggs.net> References: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> <4EA2F7AC.8010805@staggs.net> Message-ID: <4EA31B36.8010802@thelinuxlink.net> On 10/22/11 1:04 PM, Billy Staggs wrote: > Opinions? OK, here's my take: > > Yes a laptop may be quieter and use less power, but seldom do the > match the performance of a equally equipped full sized PC (or > server), nor do I believe they will last as long running constantly. > Just too many compromises made to keep size down. Don't get me wrong, > I wouldn't want to give up my laptop, but I wouldn't trade it from my > desktop either. Having said that I once ran a laptop with a > non-functional LCD as a sever for sometime. > > On my job we have tested many difference visualization technophiles > and without question VMware has came out on top almost every time. It > is pretty much the industry standard as far as I can tell. ESXi is > pretty much the cheese as far as I am concerned. I am almost ashamed > at how long we go between reboots on the host servers. We also run > VMware Workstation for testing and lab environment with very good > results. I hesitate to say anything on this list, but we have also > had good luck with Hyper-V server, but it's not as flexible as ESXi. > > > For what it's worth... > > > -- > bstaggs <>< Ran all my server needs off an old laptop for almost 3 years (without a reboot even) before I got a standard server. Now, I have laptop which has several times the resources I have available no the server hardware and thought I may be able to press that into better use and save some money at the same time. As for ESX, I use that almost exclusively at work on about 400 machines, but I have recently been quite taken with how well KVM works, and virtualbox has been a staple for me on my desktop machines for years now. All good stuff. -- -Linc Fessenden In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... From gorkon at gmail.com Sat Oct 22 17:06:22 2011 From: gorkon at gmail.com (Joel Mclaughlin) Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 17:06:22 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Virtualization In-Reply-To: <4EA31B36.8010802@thelinuxlink.net> References: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> <4EA2F7AC.8010805@staggs.net> <4EA31B36.8010802@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: Can you snapshot with KVM? If so, then go with that as it does really perform nicely. The only think that has me waffling is some of the management features that VirtualBox and VMware give you. On Sat, Oct 22, 2011 at 3:36 PM, linc wrote: > On 10/22/11 1:04 PM, Billy Staggs wrote: >> >> Opinions? OK, here's my take: >> >> Yes a laptop may be quieter and use less power, but seldom do the match >> the performance of a equally equipped ?full sized PC (or server), nor do I >> believe they will last as long running constantly. ?Just too many >> compromises made to keep size down. ?Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to >> give up my laptop, but I wouldn't trade it from my desktop either. Having >> said that I once ran a laptop with a non-functional LCD as a sever for >> sometime. >> >> On my job we have tested many difference visualization technophiles and >> without question VMware has came out on top almost every time. ?It is pretty >> much the industry standard as far as I can tell. ?ESXi is pretty much the >> cheese as far as I am concerned. ?I am almost ashamed at how long we go >> between reboots on the host servers. ?We also run VMware Workstation for >> testing and lab environment with very good results. ?I hesitate to say >> anything on this list, but we have also had good luck with Hyper-V server, >> but it's not as flexible as ESXi. >> >> >> For what it's worth... >> >> >> -- >> bstaggs <>< > > Ran all my server needs off an old laptop for almost 3 years (without a > reboot even) before I got a standard server. Now, I have laptop which > has several times the resources I have available no the server hardware > and thought I may be able to press that into better use and save some > money at the same time. ?As for ESX, I use that almost exclusively at work > on about 400 machines, but I have recently been quite taken with how well > KVM works, and virtualbox has been a staple for me on my desktop machines > for years now. ?All good stuff. > > > -- > -Linc Fessenden > > In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... > > > _______________________________________________ > Linux4christians mailing list > Linux4christians at thelinuxlink.net > http://www.thelinuxlink.net/mailman/listinfo/linux4christians > -- Joel McLaughlin Life in Ohio Podcast life.in.ohio.pod at gmail.com gorkon at gmail.com http://lifeinohio.libsyn.com joel at geardiary.com geardiary.com From satimis at yahoo.com Sat Oct 22 20:24:53 2011 From: satimis at yahoo.com (Stephen Liu) Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 17:24:53 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Linux4christians] =?utf-8?b?5Zue6KaG77iwICBWaXJ0dWFsaXphdGlvbg==?= In-Reply-To: <4EA31B36.8010802@thelinuxlink.net> References: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> <4EA2F7AC.8010805@staggs.net> <4EA31B36.8010802@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: <1319329493.63689.YahooMailNeo@web113208.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi all, Just caught by this subject "Virtualizaition".? There are many good stuffs on Open Source including virtualizer.? I have been running KVM, OpenVZ, VServer, VirtualBox(both Open Source and Oracle version), VMWare (free version) etc. before.? VirtualBox and VMWare are quite close in features.? I'm now running VirutalBox (Oracle version). OpenVZ and VServer are nice virtualizer for Linux OS - update/upgrade a guest will automatically update/upgrade all guests simultaneously.? It saves lot of work.? Windows can't work on them when I worked on it 3~4 years ago.? I don't knowtheir latest development. KVM - a nice virtualizer for both Linux and Windows. B.R. SL >________________________________ >?? linc >???? Linux for Christians >????? 2011?10?23? (??) 3:36 AM >??? Re: [Linux4christians] Virtualization > >- snip - > >Ran all my server needs off an old laptop for almost 3 years (without a >reboot even) before I got a standard server. Now, I have laptop which >has several times the resources I have available no the server hardware >and thought I may be able to press that into better use and save some >money at the same time.? As for ESX, I use that almost exclusively at work on about 400 machines, but I have recently been quite taken with how well KVM works, and virtualbox has been a staple for me on my desktop machines for years now.? All good stuff. > > >-- -Linc Fessenden > >In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... > > >_______________________________________________ >Linux4christians mailing list >Linux4christians at thelinuxlink.net >http://www.thelinuxlink.net/mailman/listinfo/linux4christians > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sat Oct 22 22:17:02 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:17:02 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Sunday - Acts 10 Message-ID: <4EA3791E.4050904@bibleseven.com> Sunday Acts 10 Peter Visits Cornelius 10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort. 10:2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people and prayed to God regularly. 10:3 About three o'clock one afternoon he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, "Cornelius." 10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius replied, "What is it, Lord?" The angel said to him, "Your prayers and your acts of charity have gone up as a memorial before God. 10:5 Now send men to Joppa and summon a man named Simon, who is called Peter. 10:6 This man is staying as a guest with a man named Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea." 10:7 When the angel who had spoken to him departed, Cornelius called two of his personal servants and a devout soldier from among those who served him, 10:8 and when he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. 10:9 About noon the next day, while they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10:10 He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing the meal, a trance came over him. 10:11 He saw heaven opened and an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down to earth by its four corners. 10:12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and wild birds. 10:13 Then a voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; slaughter and eat!" 10:14 But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean!" 10:15 The voice spoke to him again, a second time, "What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!" 10:16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven. 10:17 Now while Peter was puzzling over what the vision he had seen could signify, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon's house was and approached the gate. 10:18 They called out to ask if Simon, known as Peter, was staying there as a guest. 10:19 While Peter was still thinking seriously about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Look! Three men are looking for you. 10:20 But get up, go down, and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them." 10:21 So Peter went down to the men and said, "Here I am, the person you're looking for. Why have you come?" 10:22 They said, "Cornelius the centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message from you." 10:23 So Peter invited them in and entertained them as guests. On the next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 10:24 The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting anxiously for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 10:25 So when Peter came in, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him. 10:26 But Peter helped him up, saying, "Stand up. I too am a mere mortal." 10:27 Peter continued talking with him as he went in, and he found many people gathered together. 10:28 He said to them, "You know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, yet God has shown me that I should call no person defiled or ritually unclean. 10:29 Therefore when you sent for me, I came without any objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?" 10:30 Cornelius replied, "Four days ago at this very hour, at three o'clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my house, and suddenly a man in shining clothing stood before me 10:31 and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your acts of charity have been remembered before God. 10:32 Therefore send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter. This man is staying as a guest in the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.' 10:33 Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come. So now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us." 10:34 Then Peter started speaking: "I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism in dealing with people, 10:35 but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is welcomed before him. 10:36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all) -- 10:37 you know what happened throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 10:38 with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him. 10:39 We are witnesses of all the things he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 10:40 but God raised him up on the third day and caused him to be seen, 10:41 not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 10:42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to warn them that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. 10:43 About him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the message. 10:45 The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were greatly astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, 10:46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 10:47 "No one can withhold the water for these people to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" 10:48 So he gave orders to have them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for several days. Prayer Lord, Your truth is known, some who should recognize and respond to it do not and others unexpectedly do. May I be alert to observe and ready to obey. Summary & Commentary Cornelius, Gentile believer and officer in the "Italian Cohort" (a regiment of 600 soldiers, about 1/10th of a legion), was instructed in a vision to send for Peter. He did so. Peter, had a vision that challenged his Jewish-only definition of Christianity and community, then was sent to meet with Cornelius - something he would have refused to do prior to the vision. Peter obediently traveled to Caesarea to meet with Cornelieus, bringing some other believers. Cornelius had gathered people to hear from Peter. Cornelius misunderstood who Peter was and tried to worship him but Peter corrected him, saying "I am a mere mortal ...". [Note: It is important to recall that throughout the Bible no God-honoring being, man or angel, ever allowed anyone to worship them in any way. Only Jesus, God incarnate, did so.] Peter and Cornelius shared their experiences with the Lord God through the visions, then, together they discovered that God wanted them to recognize that He plays no favorites based on racial or political or social standing but is interested only in the status of our faith in Jesus and our obedience before Him. As Peter recited the works of Jesus during His public ministry, and His commandment to the Apostles, the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles whom Cornelius had gathered - the same as it had at Pentecost for those gathered for the Jewish celebrations. [Note: There were Jewish-Christians with Peter whom God needed to witness this because, like Peter, they still struggled with a Jews-only misconception of the ministry of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Note once again that this experience with "speaking in tongues" is clearly identified as the same as at Pentecost where they spoke in "known languages". This text is unavailable for use as a proof-text for a "Heavenly language", though such is not herein excluded from the NT, it is simply good scholarship to recognize that such was not reported anywhere in the Gospels, nor so up to this point in the Book of Acts.] Peter then instructed his Jewish-Christian companions to baptize the Gentiles and to perform a "washing of the feet" act of humble-fellowship to illustrate the teaching - originally direct from Jesus - that there is no more any division between Jew and Gentile. Interaction Consider God repeats Himself in order to overcome our resistance to change. In the late texts of the OT God says that He was bringing a new covenant -- one no longer exclusive to the Jewish tribes. Jesus said more than once that there was to no longer be a separation between Jew and Gentile - yet here again He had to repeat Himself because the Apostle Peter still didn't get it. Discuss Can you recall a moment in history, or perhaps from your own personal observation or experience, where "a mere mortal" allowed, or even required, people to worship them? What was the result? Reflect The religious leaders didn't get Jesus but Cornelius, a gentile, did. Share When in your life has it has been necessary to cause cliques or other sub-groups to interact with one-another in order to bridge unhealthy divisions? Did it improve things? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of a time, perhaps even recently, where you had been unaware of, or confused about, a Biblical teaching but the Lord God's persistence finally led to a correct understanding. Action: Today I will share the Lord's correction of my understanding with a fellow believer and ask that God will continue to find me teachable. I will also identify and pray for healing within the Christian family where divisions exist. It may be cliques within a youth group, competition between denominations, stylistic preferences about music or programs, or some other non-Biblical cause. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Monday's text will be: Acts 11 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sun Oct 23 20:36:20 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:36:20 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Monday - Acts 11 Message-ID: <4EA4B304.2060909@bibleseven.com> Monday Acts 11 Peter Defends His Actions to the Jerusalem Church 11:1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. 11:2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him, 11:3 saying, "You went to uncircumcised men and shared a meal with them." 11:4 But Peter began and explained it to them point by point, saying, 11:5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me. 11:6 As I stared I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and wild birds. 11:7 I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; slaughter and eat!' 11:8 But I said, 'Certainly not, Lord, for nothing defiled or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!' 11:9 But the voice replied a second time from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!' 11:10 This happened three times, and then everything was pulled up to heaven again. 11:11 At that very moment, three men sent to me from Caesarea approached the house where we were staying. 11:12 The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house. 11:13 He informed us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter, 11:14 who will speak a message to you by which you and your entire household will be saved.' 11:15 Then as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did on us at the beginning. 11:16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, as he used to say, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 11:17 Therefore if God gave them the same gift as he also gave us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder God?" 11:18 When they heard this, they ceased their objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted the repentance that leads to life even to the Gentiles." Activity in the Church at Antioch 11:19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message to no one but Jews. 11:20 But there were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene among them who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. 11:21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 11:22 A report about them came to the attention of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 11:23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with devoted hearts, 11:24 because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a significant number of people were brought to the Lord. 11:25 Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to look for Saul, 11:26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught a significant number of people. Now it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. Famine Relief for Judea 11:27 At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 11:28 One of them, named Agabus, got up and predicted by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to come over the whole inhabited world. (This took place during the reign of Claudius.) 11:29 So the disciples, each in accordance with his financial ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 11:30 They did so, sending their financial aid to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. Prayer Lord, You not only overcame the enemy's intent to harm Your mission to Jerusalem -- by using the flight of Jews from persecution -- You also overcame Jewish-Christian convert resistance to evangelizing Gentiles. May I resist the confused notions of humankind and view things through Your eyes. Summary & Commentary Peter was challenged by the Jewish-Christians in Jerusalem and explains his interaction with God and the Gentiles to them in detail - they repented of their objections and praised God. Disciples who scattered due to the murder-martyrdom of Stephen preached and taught Jews in Phonecia and Cyprus and Antioch but had refused to share with the Gentiles. God raised-up others from Cyprus and Cyrene to send to the Greeks and many were saved. The gathered believers (the Church) in Jerusalem, recognizing that the "harvest" was ready among the Greeks, sent Barnabas to Antioch and many more were saved. It is here that the Biblical text first actually notes the use of "Christian" as applied to believers. Famine throughout the Roman Empire is prophesied so the disciples donated relief funds for the Christians in Judea, to be delivered by Barnabas and Saul. Interaction Consider The early Church reacted with outreach to the evidence that many people in a certain area or among a certain population were responding to the invitation of the Holy Spirit - have you observed this in modern times? Discuss The early Church recognized and met the needs of fellow believers - are we taking the same care of fellow believers around the world or do we support organizations that divert some of our funds to non-believers leaving believers in need still in need? Reflect God overcomes fear and prejudice in order to deliver His Word to everyone. Have you observed this done in a faith-community of which you are a member? Share When have you observed believers doubting something that clearly was of-God but which a detailed presentation of the circumstances and the relevant Biblical texts resolved the confusion and the potential conflict? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a ministry opportunity in a "harvest-ready area" and/or sub-population. Action: Today I will pray in agreement for more "workers for the harvest" and as-appropriate either offer to join them and/or send them a financial contribution to support their work. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Tuesday's text will be: Acts 12 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za Mon Oct 24 12:14:15 2011 From: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za (Raoul Snyman) Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:14:15 +0200 Subject: [Linux4christians] Virtualization In-Reply-To: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> References: <4EA2EB04.1090103@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: <5946956.meqXLzLhEP@animal> On Saturday 22 October 2011 12:10:44 linc wrote: > Opinions needed. Trying to decide whether to change my current server > setup. Currently I have an ESxi 4.0 server (actual server hardware) > with 4gb ram hanging out in my livingroom. I have waffling at the > possibilities of changing this to a faster more cores twice the ram > laptop for a server. Less electricity on the bills, less heat, less > noise, etc. I could run a lot more VMs comfortably as well. And if so, > pursue ESXi again? Does ESX have a free version anymore? Can't find > it. What about virtualbox headless? KVM works great too?? Firstly, if you intend running databases, don't run them in a virtual machine. They require direct, unlaggy disk access. Secondly, if you're running light stuff, then maybe VMware is OK. If you are running hardcore servers, nothing beats Xen. We are running VMware at work (biggest jobs portal in South Africa, now with cars, houses, and a social network), and it is horrendous. It's slow and buggy and unreliable, not to mention far more money than it is actually worth. Xen would have not only been more cost-effective, but also more reliable and given us faster guests, thanks to it's paravirtualisation. Also, as far as I know VMware has a Windows-only management console. -- Raoul Snyman, B.Tech IT (Software Engineering) Saturn Laboratories m: 082 550 3754 e: raoul.snyman at saturnlaboratories.co.za w: http://www.saturnlaboratories.co.za b: blog.saturnlaboratories.co.za From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Mon Oct 24 21:22:12 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:22:12 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Tuesday - Acts 12 Message-ID: <4EA60F44.5090307@bibleseven.com> Tuesday Acts 12 James is Killed and Peter Imprisoned 12:1 About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them. 12:2 He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. 12:3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) 12:4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him. 12:6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. 12:7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, "Get up quickly!" And the chains fell off Peter's wrists. 12:8 The angel said to him, "Fasten your belt and put on your sandals." Peter did so. Then the angel said to him, "Put on your cloak and follow me." 12:9 Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 12:10 After they had passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, when at once the angel left him. 12:11 When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen." 12:12 When Peter realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying. 12:13 When he knocked at the door of the outer gate, a slave girl named Rhoda answered. 12:14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she did not open the gate, but ran back in and told them that Peter was standing at the gate. 12:15 But they said to her, "You've lost your mind!" But she kept insisting that it was Peter, and they kept saying, "It is his angel!" 12:16 Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were greatly astonished. 12:17 He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and then related how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, "Tell James and the brothers these things," and then he left and went to another place. 12:18 At daybreak there was great consternation among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 12:19 When Herod had searched for him and did not find him, he questioned the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 12:20 Now Herod was having an angry quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they joined together and presented themselves before him. And after convincing Blastus, the king's personal assistant, to help them, they asked for peace, because their country's food supply was provided by the king's country. 12:21 On a day determined in advance, Herod put on his royal robes, sat down on the judgment seat, and made a speech to them. 12:22 But the crowd began to shout, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!" 12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck Herod down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. 12:24 But the word of God kept on increasing and multiplying. 12:25 So Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem when they had completed their mission, bringing along with them John Mark. Prayer Lord, You protected Peter to complete the ministry which You had assigned to him. May I be confident that You protect and provide for the ministries that You have determined must be completed. Summary & Commentary James was murdered by Herod, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in order to garner the approval of the religious leaders. James was the first Apostle to be martyred. Herod then had Peter imprisoned under heavy guard with the intent of a public trial following Passover; however, the believers committed themselves to earnest prayer and God sent an angel to release Peter from prison. Peter walked out with the angel, gates opened without human action, and none of the guards noticed them as they passed. Peter walked to the home of John and Mary (the mother of Jesus) where the believers had gathered for prayer. The believers doubted that it could be Peter at the gate - even though they had prayed for his protection and release - and thought it was "his angel". Peter explained all that happened, asked them to tell James and the "brothers", then left for a place unmentioned in the text. [Note: It appears that Peter was not yet aware that James had been murdered.] Herod had the guards punished. Herod traveled to Tyre and Sidon to resolve a conflict, in an effort to mollify the angry ruler the crowd called to him as if he were a god - he (Herod) failed to stop them from that blasphemy - so an angel struck him down and an infestation of intestinal worms slowly killed him from the inside. Interaction Consider Contemplate history since Jesus and try to recall any political or religious leader who has allowed himself to be worship as a god who has lived long and died peacefully. Discuss Why would Herod have been so foolish as to tempt the wrath of the Lord God by permitting the people to worship him as a false god? Reflect There was a convergence of God's plan to preserve Peter for additional ministry (recall that Peter had the prophesy from Jesus that he would die young because of his ministry) and the fervent prayer of the believers for their brother and leader. Share When have you observed a leader of any sort permitting people to treat them as a sort of god? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a Christian who has been wrongfully persecuted. Action: Today I will identify and pray fervently for their freedom and vindication and that God will be glorified in the process. I will also pray for political and religious leaders that they be wise enough to stay far away from anything that approaches the encouragement or acceptance of god-like worship. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Wednesday's text will be: Acts 13 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Tue Oct 25 19:58:25 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:58:25 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Wednesday - Acts 13 Message-ID: <4EA74D21.3000205@bibleseven.com> Wednesday Acts 13 The Church at Antioch Commissions Barnabas and Saul 13:1 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch from childhood) and Saul. 13:2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 13:3 Then, after they had fasted and prayed and placed their hands on them, they sent them off. Paul and Barnabas Preach in Cyprus 13:4 So Barnabas and Saul, sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 13:5 When they arrived in Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. (Now they also had John as their assistant.) 13:6 When they had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 13:7 who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. 13:8 But the magician Elymas (for that is the way his name is translated) opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 13:9 But Saul (also known as Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at him 13:10 and said, "You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness -- will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 13:11 Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!" Immediately mistiness and darkness came over him, and he went around seeking people to lead him by the hand. 13:12 Then when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, because he was greatly astounded at the teaching about the Lord. Paul and Barnabas at Pisidian Antioch 13:13 Then Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. 13:14 Moving on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 13:15 After the reading from the law and the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any message of exhortation for the people, speak it." 13:16 So Paul stood up, gestured with his hand and said, "Men of Israel, and you Gentiles who fear God, listen: 13:17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay as foreigners in the country of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 13:18 For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 13:19 After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave his people their land as an inheritance. 13:20 All this took about four hundred fifty years. After this he gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 13:21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 13:22 After removing him, God raised up David their king. He testified about him: '/*I have found David*/ the son of Jesse /*to be a man after my heart*/, who will accomplish everything I want him to do.' 13:23 From the descendants of this man God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he promised. 13:24 Before Jesus arrived, John had proclaimed a baptism for repentance to all the people of Israel. 13:25 But while John was completing his mission, he said repeatedly, 'What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!' 13:26 Brothers, descendants of Abraham's family, and those Gentiles among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us. 13:27 For the people who live in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him, and they fulfilled the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath by condemning him. 13:28 Though they found no basis for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 13:29 When they had accomplished everything that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. 13:30 But God raised him from the dead, 13:31 and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are now his witnesses to the people. 13:32 And we proclaim to you the good news about the promise to our ancestors, 13:33 that this promise God has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second psalm, '/*You are my Son;*/ /*today I have fathered you*/.' 13:34 But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way: '/*I will give you*/ /*the holy and trustworthy promises*/ /*made to David*/.' 13:35 Therefore he also says in another psalm, '/*You will not permit your Holy One*/ /*to experience*/ /*decay*/.' 13:36 For David, after he had served God's purpose in his own generation, died, was buried with his ancestors, and experienced decay, 13:37 but the one whom God raised up did not experience decay. 13:38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 13:39 and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you. 13:40 Watch out, then, that what is spoken about by the prophets does not happen to you: 13:41 '/*Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish!*/ For I am doing a work in your days, /*a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you*//./'" 13:42 As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people were urging them to speak about these things on the next Sabbath. 13:43 When the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading them to continue in the grace of God. 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city assembled together to hear the word of the Lord. 13:45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they began to contradict what Paul was saying by reviling him. 13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, "It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles. 13:47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: '/I have appointed/ /you to be a light/ /for the Gentiles, to bring salvation/ /to the ends of the earth./'" 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice and praise the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life believed. 13:49 So the word of the Lord was spreading through the entire region. 13:50 But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high social standing and the prominent men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their region. 13:51 So after they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, they went to Iconium. 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Prayer Lord, You prepare teachable hearts and then use the willing to reap Your harvest. May I be willing, available, and teachable. Summary & Commentary The Holy Spirit prompted the Antioch Church (gathered believers) to fast and pray and then lay-hands on Barnabas and Saul/Paul to commission them to be sent-out. Barnabas and Paul, with John, preached in Cyprus. A magician who was also a false Jewish-prophet tried to keep the proconsul from accepting the truth of God was struck blind by the Holy Spirit through Paul and the proconsul was saved. John returned to Jerusalem and Barnabas and Paul continued through Perga to Pisidian Antioch where they were invited to share at the synagogue. There they reviewed the Biblical record, concluding with a challenging condemnation of those who rejected Jesus whom they should have recognized as the Messiah. Many believed, the existing believers were encouraged, and they were asked to return for the next Sabbath gathering. The religious leaders were jealous and began personal and religious attacks upon Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas replied that since the religious leaders did not find themselves worthy of eternal life they would instead go to the Gentiles. [Note: They abandoned the religious leaders and their followers, all of whom had proved unteachable.] The Gentiles rejoiced and many were saved but the religious leaders incited the upper class citizens to persecute and ultimately banish Paul and Barnabas - who then "shook the dust off their feet" [symbolically condemning them to their rejection of God's gift of salvation] and took their ministry to Iconium where "the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit". Interaction Consider The enemy tried to use the magician to interfere with the evangelizing of the proconsul but the Lord God, through Paul, struck him blind -- demonstrating His presence and His power. Discuss Isn't it amazing that all Paul and Barnabas had to do was to review the Biblical record, essentially what we know as the Old Testament, and many recognized and surrendered to the Messiah? Reflect How interesting is the difference between those who were teachable - welcoming the truth even though it challenged much of what they had previously believed and would upset their social status - versus those who violently rejected obvious truth. Share When have you or someone you know, had to "shake the dust off your sandals" and move on when someone with whom you were sharing truth demonstrated a rigid refusal to consider truth. Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to direct me to where the Lord God wants to send me where His truth will be heard. Action: Today I will ask a fellow believer to pray in agreement with me for the discernment to recognize the difference between someone whom the Holy Spirit has prepared for "harvest" and one who is unteachable - and the strength and wisdom to walk away from the unteachable. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Thursday's text will be: Acts 14 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Wed Oct 26 21:43:03 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:43:03 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Thursday - Acts 14 Message-ID: <4EA8B727.2050700@bibleseven.com> Thursday Acts 14 Paul and Barnabas at Iconium 14:1 The same thing happened in Iconium when Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a large group of both Jews and Greeks believed. 14:2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 14:3 So they stayed there for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace, granting miraculous signs and wonders to be performed through their hands. 14:4 But the population of the city was divided; some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. 14:5 When both the Gentiles and the Jews (together with their rulers) made an attempt to mistreat them and stone them, 14:6 Paul and Barnabas learned about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding region. 14:7 There they continued to proclaim the good news. Paul and Barnabas at Lystra 14:8 In Lystra sat a man who could not use his feet, lame from birth, who had never walked. 14:9 This man was listening to Paul as he was speaking. When Paul stared intently at him and saw he had faith to be healed, 14:10 he said with a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet." And the man leaped up and began walking. 14:11 So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 14:12 They began to call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 14:13 The priest of the temple of Zeus, located just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them. 14:14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 14:15 "Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them. 14:16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, 14:17 yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy." 14:18 Even by saying these things, they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them. 14:19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning the crowds over, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead. 14:20 But after the disciples had surrounded him, he got up and went back into the city. On the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria 14:21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch. 14:22 They strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "We must enter the kingdom of God through many persecutions." 14:23 When they had appointed elders for them in the various churches, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the protection of the Lord in whom they had believed. 14:24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came into Pamphylia, 14:25 and when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 14:26 From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 14:27 When they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported all the things God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. 14:28 So they spent considerable time with the disciples. Prayer Lord, You said that You were opening the doors to Gentiles, that there would no longer be a separation between Jew and Gentile, and You made it happen. May I always beware of false divisions among the people of Your Church (believers, not buildings, not human-assembled religious institutions) and favoritism toward the people-groups to be reached, insisting that all be treated with equal regard, just as You have commanded. Summary & Commentary Barnabas and Paul shared at the Word at Lystra, much the same conflict occurred there as in Pisidian Antioch with many new believers, challenges to the truth from religious leaders who did not want the truth to be told, and a threat against their lives which led to Paul and Barnabas moving on "to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra, Derbe, and the surrounding region." Paul called out the healing of God in a lame man whose faith the Holy Spirit disclosed to him and the pagan worshipers there offered sacrifices to them. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and cried out against their misplaced worship. Despite their efforts to persuade them to the truth the people resisted, then the religious leaders arrived to take advantage of the chaos and manipulated the crowd into dragging Paul out of the city where they stoned and left him for dead. The disciples gathered and prayed and Paul revived, returned to the city, then left with Barnabas for Derbe where they declared the Word. Barnabas and Paul then return to Lystra, then Iconium, and Antioch in Syria where they "appointed elders for them in the various churches" [Note: Churches referred to the gatherings of believers in parts of the various communities. The term "elder" here refers to someone who would meet the requirements of a Deacon but serve as something like an Apostle.] They continued on eventually arriving home in Antioch from where they had been commissioned for the journey, sharing all that God had done then staying a long while with the disciples. Interaction Consider How our modern-day notion of "pastor" may have drawn a parallel to the "elder" of ACTS 14. Discuss Isn't it amazing how quickly the people were turned from worship to murder? Reflect Pagans often try to make everything fit their beliefs and practices, such as trying to make Jesus fit into an existing religious system, or forcing non-Biblical elements into an otherwise Biblical gathering. Share When have you observed an idolatry of a celebrity or religious leader? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me any place where I may have drifted into the acceptance of a non-Biblical belief about an organization or a person. Action: Today I will prayerfully consider all that I do in my daily walk and times of gathering together with other believers, looking carefully for any indication of an element of non-Biblical elements slipping in. I will also pray for safety and wisdom for the spiritual leader or leaders of my Christian fellowship. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Friday's text will be: Acts 15 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From fmiller at lightlink.com Thu Oct 27 13:06:20 2011 From: fmiller at lightlink.com (Fred A. Miller) Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:06:20 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] OT: A sensitive topic, but one I think we need to at least study and discuss. Message-ID: <4EA98F8C.8010100@lightlink.com> The Vatican's Quest for a World Political Authority: Sowing the Seeds of Global Power "Most of us are not competitors... We are the stakes. For the competition is about who will establish the first one-world system of government... No one can be exempted from its effects. No sector of our lives will remain untouched."[i] -- Malachi Martin. In 1990, a former Vatican-insider claimed that a titanic struggle was being waged to bring about a world political system. This contest, the now deceased Jesuit explained, was primarily between three players: international Leninism, transnational business elites, and the hand of the Vatican. Almost twenty years have passed since Malachi Martin drew attention to this three-way quest. At the time his assertions seemed over-the-top. Granted, the idea of a world government via communism wasn't new as decades of Cold War posturing still played in our minds. And the writing was on the wall in respect to the growing power of international corporate and financial elites, exemplified by the likes of David Rockefeller and the Trilateral Commission. But the Vatican? http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid -- "Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars." - Unknown -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Thu Oct 27 20:40:39 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:40:39 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Friday - Acts 15 Message-ID: <4EA9FA07.9000108@bibleseven.com> Friday Acts 15 The Jerusalem Council 15:1 Now some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." 15:2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate with them, the church appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this point of disagreement. 15:3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they were relating at length the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers. 15:4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all the things God had done with them. 15:5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees who had believed stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise the Gentiles and to order them to observe the law of Moses." 15:6 Both the apostles and the elders met together to deliberate about this matter. 15:7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that some time ago God chose me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message of the gospel and believe. 15:8 And God, who knows the heart, has testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 15:9 and he made no distinction between them and us, cleansing their hearts by faith. 15:10 So now why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 15:11 On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they are." 15:12 The whole group kept quiet and listened to Barnabas and Paul while they explained all the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 15:13 After they stopped speaking, James replied, "Brothers, listen to me. 15:14 Simeon has explained how God first concerned himself to select from among the Gentiles a people for his name. 15:15 The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written, 15:16 '/*After this*/ /*I*/ /*will return, and I will rebuild the fallen tent*/ /*of David; I will rebuild its ruins and restore*/ /*it,*/ 15:17 /*so that the rest of humanity*/ /*may seek the Lord, namely,*/ /*all the Gentiles*/ /*I have called to be my own,*/' /*says the Lord,*/ /who makes these things/ 15:18 /known/ /from long ago./ 15:19 "Therefore I conclude that we should not cause extra difficulty for those among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 15:20 but that we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things defiled by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood. 15:21 For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times, because he is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath." 15:22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to send men chosen from among them, Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leaders among the brothers, to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. 15:23 They sent this letter with them: From the apostles and elders, your brothers, to the Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, greetings! 15:24 Since we have heard that some have gone out from among us with no orders from us and have confused you, upsetting your minds by what they said, 15:25 we have unanimously decided to choose men to send to you along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul, 15:26 who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15:27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas who will tell you these things themselves in person. 15:28 For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules: 15:29 that you abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from doing these things, you will do well. Farewell. 15:30 So when they were dismissed, they went down to Antioch, and after gathering the entire group together, they delivered the letter. 15:31 When they read it aloud, the people rejoiced at its encouragement. 15:32 Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a long speech. 15:33 After they had spent some time there, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 15:34 [[EMPTY]] 15:35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming (along with many others) the word of the Lord. Paul and Barnabas Part Company 15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's return and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord to see how they are doing." 15:37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 15:38 but Paul insisted that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 15:39 They had a sharp disagreement, so that they parted company. Barnabas took along Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, 15:40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters. 15:41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Prayer Lord, the early participants in Your "Church" faced many challenges, internal struggles with tradition-bound Jews and conflict among other members. May I pray regularly for peace and wisdom among believers -- and to expect the same of myself. Summary & Commentary The Jerusalem Counsel attempted to impose legalistic Judaism on the Gentile believers, Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James all reflected on God's sending of them to the Gentiles and His teaching that one is saved by responding to Jesus through the Holy Spirit in faith. They agreed not to add the artificial "difficulty" of mandatory circumcision but instead sent a letter of instruction and encouragement to live righteously. Judas-Barsabbas and Silas traveled with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch to explain the decision of the Apostles as to the Gentile believers, the others returned to Jerusalem while Paul and Barnabas remained. Barnabas and Paul parted company due to Mark [apparently Mark had abandoned them in Pamphylia and lost Paul's trust] so Barnabas took Mark and set out for Cyprus while Paul took Silas and went to Syria and Cilicia. Interaction Consider It took Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James to persuade the Jerusalem Counsel not to impose legalistic Judaism upon the new Gentile believers. Discuss Why would Jewish believers try to impose mandatory circumcision and other Jewish traditions upon Gentile converts? Reflect Even apostles and disciples struggled with interpersonal relationships. Share When have you Share a time when religious leaders, or others with influence and power, tried to impose extra-Biblical traditions upon new believers. What was the result? Share a time when there was a disagreement among the leaders of a Christian fellowship and some leaders went separate ways. What was the result? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a relationship for which He wants you to pray for reconciliation between leaders who have gone separate ways due to a conflict. Action: Today I will Today I will pray that Christian religious leaders everywhere will refrain from distortions of the Word of God that come from confusing tradition with truth and the discouragement that may create for new and potential new believers. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Saturday's text will be: Acts 16 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 Defend free speech or lose your freedom. I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From l4c at thelinuxlink.net Fri Oct 28 10:42:24 2011 From: l4c at thelinuxlink.net (l4c) Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:42:24 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Halloween Message-ID: <4EAABF50.20900@thelinuxlink.net> As a Christian, I invariably get asked about the participation in Halloween each year. This year was no exception. Here is my response: Truth be told, you can find an "evilness" about anything if you look hard enough. Sometimes things are just what you make them and you have the power to make Halloween safe, fun and Holy if you care to do so. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. -- -Linc Fessenden In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... From gorkon at gmail.com Fri Oct 28 11:06:17 2011 From: gorkon at gmail.com (Joel Mclaughlin) Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:06:17 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Halloween In-Reply-To: <4EAABF50.20900@thelinuxlink.net> References: <4EAABF50.20900@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: My opinion..... People try to take Christ out of Christmas. We should try and take Satan out of Halloween. To do that, you can pass out tracts and make sure your kids dress as appropriate characters. Examples of costumes to avoid may be anything that could be considered demonic or evil. Luke, for example, will be going as his favorite pro bowler, Rhino Page. He has one of the jersey's he wore and he will probably use a empty bowling ball bag as his loot bag! :-) Other things we have done over the years have included just sitting on the porch and occasionally talking to the neighbors. We decorate with decorations that are not demonic or scary. Our pumpkin is carved with whatever friendly thing Luke picks our. One year it was a halloween cat. God calls us to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16) and trick or treat night is a perfect event that we can be this light and share our faith by example. Trick or treat is a great community event that is very fun for our kids and it would be a shame if we did not try to be the light of the night and show others our grace and kindness. On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 10:42 AM, l4c wrote: > As a Christian, I invariably get asked about the participation in Halloween > each year. ?This year was no exception. ?Here is my response: > Truth be told, you can find an "evilness" about anything if you look hard > enough. Sometimes things are just what you make them and you have the power > to make Halloween safe, fun and Holy if you care to do so. > Romans 8:28 > And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to > them who are the called according to his purpose. > > -- > -Linc Fessenden > > In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... > _______________________________________________ > Linux4christians mailing list > Linux4christians at thelinuxlink.net > http://www.thelinuxlink.net/mailman/listinfo/linux4christians > -- Joel McLaughlin Life in Ohio Podcast life.in.ohio.pod at gmail.com gorkon at gmail.com http://lifeinohio.libsyn.com joel at geardiary.com geardiary.com From okie2003 at gmail.com Fri Oct 28 11:11:43 2011 From: okie2003 at gmail.com (Rob Matlack) Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:11:43 -0500 Subject: [Linux4christians] Halloween In-Reply-To: <4EAABF50.20900@thelinuxlink.net> References: <4EAABF50.20900@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: <1319814703.13207.3.camel@Mint-9-Rob> On Fri, 2011-10-28 at 10:42 -0400, l4c wrote: > As a Christian, I invariably get asked about the participation in > Halloween each year. This year was no exception. Here is my response: > Truth be told, you can find an "evilness" about anything if you look > hard enough. Sometimes things are just what you make them and you have > the power to make Halloween safe, fun and Holy if you care to do so. > Romans 8:28 > And we know that all things work together for good to them that love > God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. > While, as a pastor, I appreciate and understand your irenic spirit, I sometimes wonder if we, the church, are blind to things others see. I found this article on bloomberg.com (a news organization primarily interested in finance) interesting. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-20/halloween-s-pagan-themes-fill-west-s-faith-vacuum-amity-shlaes.html -- Rob Matlack "It is not our task to secure the triumph of truth, but merely to fight on its behalf."--Blaise Pascal From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Fri Oct 28 18:40:36 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:40:36 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Halloween - Christian Alternatives or Surrender? In-Reply-To: <1319814703.13207.3.camel@Mint-9-Rob> References: <4EAABF50.20900@thelinuxlink.net> <1319814703.13207.3.camel@Mint-9-Rob> Message-ID: <4EAB2F64.8010106@bibleseven.com> One local fellowship is hosting a Trunk or Treat. (Safer and creates an opportunity to share conversation and tracts.) Our fellowship, and at least one other in the area, host "Fall Festivals" complete with a live contemporary Christian band, food, games, etc. (Exciting, safer, and creates an opportunity for conversation and tracts.) There is no excuse for the Christian community to fail to offer a safe and edifying alternative to what the enemy means for evil. What do we teach our own children, let alone the community, when we carelessly participate in whatever dubious event that they plan? Don't our children get enough anti-Biblical brainwashing daily via the Internet, games, music, TV, movies, school, books, sports, and other environments and influences? The article that Rob linked describes what happens every time we allow a vacuum: -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary! Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com Fri Oct 28 19:20:03 2011 From: usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com (usacomputertech) Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:20:03 -0700 Subject: [Linux4christians] Halloween In-Reply-To: <4EAABF50.20900@thelinuxlink.net> References: <4EAABF50.20900@thelinuxlink.net> Message-ID: <4EAB38A3.3080908@mindblowingidea.com> I think it's personal obedience, for instance if one person is led by God not to participate in Halloween (or not to cut their hair, or to fast, or not to eat meat or whatever) then they should obey God and not participate in Halloween, but they should not influence others to do the same, unless they are the head of household, or the head of a company or organisation, and God is directing them to have nothing to do with Halloween, and not to allow their family to participate / company to participate. On 10/28/2011 07:42 AM, l4c wrote: > As a Christian, I invariably get asked about the participation in > Halloween each year. This year was no exception. Here is my response: > Truth be told, you can find an "evilness" about anything if you look > hard enough. Sometimes things are just what you make them and you have > the power to make Halloween safe, fun and Holy if you care to do so. > Romans 8:28 > And we know that all things work together for good to them that love > God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. -- http://www.youtube.com/usacomputertec Watch My Youtube Videos USA COMPUTER TECH COMPUTER RESCUE Justin Breithaupt (509) 730-5576 (208) 750-5628 e-mail: usacomputertech at mindblowingidea.com website: www.mindblowingidea.com/ComputerRescue.html Support Forum: http://justuselinux.iboards.us/ More About Me: http://www.google.com/profiles/usacomputertec They say that money talks, if so what does it say? IN GOD WE TRUST Pastor's Sermons: www.mindblowingidea.com/LutheranTV.html Open Source Christian Community Blog: http://opensourcechristiancommunity.blogspot.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/justin.breithaupt -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 760x100_watchmyvideos.png Type: image/png Size: 16309 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: in_god_we_trust.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 16087 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Fri Oct 28 20:58:28 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:58:28 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Saturday - Acts 16 Message-ID: <4EAB4FB4.7030402@bibleseven.com> Saturday Acts 16 Timothy Joins Paul and Silas 16:1 He also came to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 16:2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 16:3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek. 16:4 As they went through the towns, they passed on the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers to obey. 16:5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day. Paul's Vision of the Macedonian Man 16:6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in the province of Asia. 16:7 When they came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this, 16:8 so they passed through Mysia and went down to Troas. 16:9 A vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there urging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" 16:10 After Paul saw the vision, we attempted immediately to go over to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. Arrival at Philippi 16:11 We put out to sea from Troas and sailed a straight course to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, 16:12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for some days. 16:13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to speak to the women who had assembled there. 16:14 A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, a God-fearing woman, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. 16:15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, "If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house." And she persuaded us. Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison 16:16 Now as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. She brought her owners a great profit by fortune-telling. 16:17 She followed behind Paul and us and kept crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." 16:18 She continued to do this for many days. But Paul became greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out of her at once. 16:19 But when her owners saw their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 16:20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion. They are Jews 16:21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us to accept or practice, since we are Romans." 16:22 The crowd joined the attack against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 16:23 After they had beaten them severely, they threw them into prison and commanded the jailer to guard them securely. 16:24 Receiving such orders, he threw them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the rest of the prisoners were listening to them. 16:26 Suddenly a great earthquake occurred, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors flew open, and the bonds of all the prisoners came loose. 16:27 When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, because he assumed the prisoners had escaped. 16:28 But Paul called out loudly, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" 16:29 Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell down trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. 16:30 Then he brought them outside and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 16:31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household." 16:32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with all those who were in his house. 16:33 At that hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized right away. 16:34 The jailer brought them into his house and set food before them, and he rejoiced greatly that he had come to believe in God, together with his entire household. 16:35 At daybreak the magistrates sent their police officers, saying, "Release those men." 16:36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent orders to release you. So come out now and go in peace." 16:37 But Paul said to the police officers, "They had us beaten in public without a proper trial -- even though we are Roman citizens -- and they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! They themselves must come and escort us out!" 16:38 The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas were Roman citizens 16:39 and came and apologized to them. After they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly to leave the city. 16:40 When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia's house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then departed. Prayer Lord, You called Timothy to ministry and like-Paul he was willing to whatever was necessary to remove obstacles to his value as Your instrument of saving-truth. May I be as willing to set-aside that which may be a distraction to Your message to a dark and dying world. Summary & Commentary Timothy joined Paul and Silas, but first Paul circumcised him so that the Jews who knew that his father was a Greek and his mother a Jew could not use that, or his failure to be circumcised, as an excuse to reject him as a leader. The Holy Spirit prevented them from "speaking the message" in the Roman province of Asia or Bithynia but in Troas Paul had a vision (from God) of a man in Macedonia pleading for them to come there so they began the journey. They first arrived in Philippi where they spoke with some women by the river, among them Lydia, a woman whose heart was inclined toward the Lord. She and her family were baptized then she invited them to stay at her home. Paul cast the demon out of a young girl who was being used for profit as a fortune-teller and her slave-masters, angry at the loss of profit, had Paul and Silas imprisoned. They were beaten and thrown into prison where Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God. God freed them from prison, as He had Peter, and when the jailer threatened suicide due to their escape Paul stopped him and shared Christ. The jailer and his family were baptized. [Note: This is not about a parent being saved and their minor-children being saved by association. The same qualifications apply as elsewhere, one must be capable of comprehending what one is doing if one is to make a meaningful decision for-Christ. The Biblically-consistent presumption has to be that both of these families consisted of older children and adults, and/or that those who were baptized were such -- and that very young children simply were not intended in the general "family" phrase. Example: "The whole family walked to the car and drove away." Did the baby-in-arms walk? Of course not. The generic expression was not intended to be that detailed.] When the magistrates came to set them free Paul challenged them with his Roman citizenship and their mistreatment without a trial - a serious crime against a citizen - terrified they apologized, personally escorted them away from the jail, then begged him to leave. They visited briefly with the "brothers" at Lydia's house then left. Interaction Consider Timothy was not required by the Lord God to be circumcised, no Christian was, but he agreed in order to remove that from the excuses the enemy would give to those who might resist him as he served the Lord. Discuss Lydia and the jailer heart the truth and because their hearts were teachable they accepted it and were saved -- and they led their families to saving truth as well. Reflect There are times when believers may be persecuted because non-believers blame them for lost income or lost influence, perhaps due to superstition, or perhaps a conflict of morality. Share When have you had an experience where a sacrifice of comfort or convenience was made by a leader in order to bypass resistance to the truth of God? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a leader in the Christian family who has sacrificed in order to be a more effective servant of the Lord. Action: Today I will pray for that leader and for a believer, or a gathering of believers, who are being persecuted by non-believers for selfish reasons. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Sunday's text will be: Acts 17 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary! Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sat Oct 29 20:48:17 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 20:48:17 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Sunday - Acts 17 Message-ID: <4EAC9ED1.10202@bibleseven.com> Sunday Acts 17 Paul and Silas at Thessalonica 17:1 After they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 17:2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the scriptures, 17:3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, saying, "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." 17:4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. 17:5 But the Jews became jealous, and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. They attacked Jason's house, trying to find Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly. 17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, screaming, "These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too, 17:7 and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar's decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus!" 17:8 They caused confusion among the crowd and the city officials who heard these things. 17:9 After the city officials had received bail from Jason and the others, they released them. Paul and Silas at Berea 17:10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once, during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 17:11 These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so. 17:12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men. 17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God in Berea, they came there too, inciting and disturbing the crowds. 17:14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. 17:15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. Paul at Athens 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset because he saw the city was full of idols. 17:17 So he was addressing the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue, and in the marketplace every day those who happened to be there. 17:18 Also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were asking, "What does this foolish babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods." (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) 17:19 So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming? 17:20 For you are bringing some surprising things to our ears, so we want to know what they mean." 17:21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to something new.) 17:22 So Paul stood before the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects. 17:23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: 'To an unknown god.' Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you. 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, 17:25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. 17:26 From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, 17:27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 17:28 For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' 17:29 So since we are God's offspring, we should not think the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image made by human skill and imagination. 17:30 Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent, 17:31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead." 17:32 Now when they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, "We will hear you again about this." 17:33 So Paul left the Areopagus. 17:34 But some people joined him and believed. Among them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Prayer Lord, Your truth is available to everyone but some will refuse to listen and others will reject You when they hear. May I be patient and respectfully-persistent in sharing, wise in moving-on when confronted by unteachable spirits, and joyful for those whom Your Holy Spirit has prepared to receive Christ. Summary & Commentary Paul & Silas at Thessalonica once again preached Christ at the local Synagogue. Some Jews and many "God-fearing Greeks" responded. Once again the religious leaders bribed thugs to lie and to cause violence to disrupt things. Paul and Silas departed for Berea where the local Jews were more receptive but the religious leaders from Thessalonica followed them to Berea and again caused trouble. Paul moved on to Athens while Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. In Athens he was troubled by the many idols but preached Christ in the Synagogue to Jews and "God-fearing Greeks". Some of the local philosophers invited him to share with them and he did so - using an idol he had observed labeled "The Unknown God" as a point of contact. Some believed, but many scoffed and remained unteachable. Interaction Consider The pattern of response, as Jesus prophesied, His message was to be (and is) highly polarizing - people tend to either accept it or react violently against it - recruiting others through fear and misinformation. Discuss How is it that some personalities draw a stronger reaction than others; Silas and Timothy were able to remain and continue the harvest and the discipleship of new believers in Berea whereas Paul needed to move on? Reflect The boldness of Paul was amazing, in light of the many beatings and imprisonments and efforts to murder him, he faithfully preached Christ anywhere and everywhere. Share When have you observed one Christian leader being effective in "plowing the ground" but another with a different style being the one who could most-effectively "reap the harvest" or disciple the new believers? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you someone who is facing aggressive opposition as they share Christ. Action: Today I will pray earnestly for the one whom the Holy Spirit has made e aware. This is not about someone in the political realm or someone engaged more in evangelizing for a denomination or a local philosophy (one that may confuse a pet religious theory or tradition with God's sovereign truth) but someone genuinely preaching the essential and uncluttered Word of God. I will pray for safety, a good harvest, and a powerful testimony. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Monday's text will be: Acts 18 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary! Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Sun Oct 30 19:43:12 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:43:12 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Monday - Acts 18 Message-ID: <4EADE110.8090505@bibleseven.com> Monday Acts 18 Paul at Corinth 18:1 After this Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. 18:2 There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome. Paul approached them, 18:3 and because he worked at the same trade, he stayed with them and worked with them (for they were tentmakers by trade). 18:4 He addressed both Jews and Greeks in the synagogue every Sabbath, attempting to persuade them. 18:5 Now when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 18:6 When they opposed him and reviled him, he protested by shaking out his clothes and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am guiltless! From now on I will go to the Gentiles!" 18:7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went to the house of a person named Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 18:8 Crispus, the president of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard about it believed and were baptized. 18:9 The Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent, 18:10 because I am with you, and no one will assault you to harm you, because I have many people in this city." 18:11 So he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. Paul Before the Proconsul Gallio 18:12 Now while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews attacked Paul together and brought him before the judgment seat, 18:13 saying, "This man is persuading people to worship God in a way contrary to the law!" 18:14 But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, I would have been justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews, 18:15 but since it concerns points of disagreement about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I will not be a judge of these things!" 18:16 Then he had them forced away from the judgment seat. 18:17 So they all seized Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, and began to beat him in front of the judgment seat. Yet none of these things were of any concern to Gallio. Paul Returns to Antioch in Syria 18:18 Paul, after staying many more days in Corinth, said farewell to the brothers and sailed away to Syria accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because he had made a vow. 18:19 When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila behind there, but he himself went into the synagogue and addressed the Jews. 18:20 When they asked him to stay longer, he would not consent, 18:21 but said farewell to them and added, "I will come back to you again if God wills." Then he set sail from Ephesus, 18:22 and when he arrived at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church at Jerusalem and then went down to Antioch. 18:23 After he spent some time there, Paul left and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. Apollos Begins His Ministry 18:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker, well-versed in the scriptures. 18:25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. 18:26 He began to speak out fearlessly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately. 18:27 When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he assisted greatly those who had believed by grace, 18:28 for he refuted the Jews vigorously in public debate, demonstrating from the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. Prayer Lord, You called many and blessed them with teachers as they came to You with teachable spirits. May I remember that no matter how You gift me, no matter how others may admire me because of those gifts, I am always merely Your instrument of ministry and the gifts are from You and for You. Summary & Commentary Paul at Corinth worked making tents alongside of Aquila and Priscilla, relocated believing Jews from Rome. He preached Christ and again was opposed by the religious leaders - and again he symbolically "shook out his clothes", declaring that he would instead share Christ with the Gentiles rather than the Jews. Among the Jews who were saved was Crispus, President of the Synagogue, and he led his family along with him. God encouraged Paul to continue in Corinth, reminding Paul that He had many there who were among His Family. Time passed and Sosthenes had assumed Presidency of the Synagogue from Crispus. The religious leaders made charges and had Paul brought before the Roman Proconsul Gallio. Before Paul could speak Gallio dismissed the case as a local religious dispute. The angry religious leaders physically attacked Sosthenes, more evidence of their evil natures. Paul traveled with Aquila and Priscilla to Antioch in Syria, first shaving his head as a private vow of thanksgiving and commitment, then continued on to Ephesus. While they remained Paul continued on to Caesarea, Jerusalem, Antioch, Galatia, and Phrygia "strengthening all the disciples". In Ephesus a charismatic Jewish convert named Apollos began his ministry. While highly effective in sharing the message of John the Baptist - Aquila and Priscilla were sent by God to explain the rest of the "way of God" in Christ to him. Apollos then traveled to Achaia where he preached Christ and refuted the false teachings of the religious leaders. Interaction Consider Paul, formerly a member of the religious elite and now a Christian, was so humble as to willingly perform manual labor making tents alongside other converted (some would say "completed") Jews. The example of Paul here is a good one. Discuss Have you experienced a gifted leader who shared the teachable spirit of Apollos? Although he was a charismatic personality with many admirers when he was approached by Aquila and Priscilla he humbly accepted their teaching and was enriched as a leader by it. Reflect God was multiplying and distributing His leadership; first the Apostles, then the Deacons, and now disciples like Aquila and Priscilla and Apollos - discipling and preaching and teaching His truth in many cities and regions. Share When have you experienced or observed a Christian fellowship that included an unusually-wide sociological range of saved people as a result of the faithful preaching of Christ? Compare that to the time of Paul's ministry when it ranged from the President of a Synagogue to the average Jew, to Greek philosophers to the average Gentile. God is "no respecter of persons" - drawing near anyone who freely responds to His invitation. Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a Christian leader who may be laboring bi-vocationally, perhaps due to the enemy blocking their ministry, perhaps being humbled or taught something important by God. Action: Today I will Today I will pray for that Christian leader. I will also pray for new and bold and vigorous and teachable new leaders who will preach Christ with integrity and grit and that older leaders will make room for them. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Tuesday's text will be: Acts 19 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary! Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dcolburn at bibleseven.com Mon Oct 31 22:41:30 2011 From: dcolburn at bibleseven.com (dcolburn at bibleseven.com) Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:41:30 -0400 Subject: [Linux4christians] Tuesday - Acts 19 Message-ID: <4EAF5C5A.2040901@bibleseven.com> Tuesday Acts 19 Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus 19:1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went through the inland regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples there 19:2 and said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 19:3 So Paul said, "Into what then were you baptized?" "Into John's baptism," they replied. 19:4 Paul said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus." 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, 19:6 and when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. 19:7 (Now there were about twelve men in all.) Paul Continues to Minister at Ephesus 19:8 So Paul entered the synagogue and spoke out fearlessly for three months, addressing and convincing them about the kingdom of God. 19:9 But when some were stubborn and refused to believe, reviling the Way before the congregation, he left them and took the disciples with him, addressing them every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 19:10 This went on for two years, so that all who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord. The Seven Sons of Sceva 19:11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul's hands, 19:12 so that when even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body were brought to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 19:13 But some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by evil spirits, saying, "I sternly warn you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." 19:14 (Now seven sons of a man named Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.) 19:15 But the evil spirit replied to them, "I know about Jesus and I am acquainted with Paul, but who are you?" 19:16 Then the man who was possessed by the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them all into submission. He prevailed against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded. 19:17 This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; fear came over them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. 19:18 Many of those who had believed came forward, confessing and making their deeds known. 19:19 Large numbers of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them up in the presence of everyone. When the value of the books was added up, it was found to total fifty thousand silver coins. 19:20 In this way the word of the Lord continued to grow in power and to prevail. A Riot in Ephesus 19:21 Now after all these things had taken place, Paul resolved to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. He said, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome." 19:22 So after sending two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, he himself stayed on for a while in the province of Asia. 19:23 At that time a great disturbance took place concerning the Way. 19:24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought a great deal of business to the craftsmen. 19:25 He gathered these together, along with the workmen in similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this business. 19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded and turned away a large crowd, not only in Ephesus but in practically all of the province of Asia, by saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all. 19:27 There is danger not only that this business of ours will come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as nothing, and she whom all the province of Asia and the world worship will suffer the loss of her greatness." 19:28 When they heard this they became enraged and began to shout, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 19:29 The city was filled with the uproar, and the crowd rushed to the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who were Paul's traveling companions. 19:30 But when Paul wanted to enter the public assembly, the disciples would not let him. 19:31 Even some of the provincial authorities who were his friends sent a message to him, urging him not to venture into the theater. 19:32 So then some were shouting one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had met together. 19:33 Some of the crowd concluded it was about Alexander because the Jews had pushed him to the front. Alexander, gesturing with his hand, was wanting to make a defense before the public assembly. 19:34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" for about two hours. 19:35 After the city secretary quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, what person is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image that fell from heaven? 19:36 So because these facts are indisputable, you must keep quiet and not do anything reckless. 19:37 For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. 19:38 If then Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against someone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another there. 19:39 But if you want anything in addition, it will have to be settled in a legal assembly. 19:40 For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause we can give to explain this disorderly gathering." 19:41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly. Prayer Lord, You not only called converts You called them to be disciples and to grow and then to tell and teach others. May I be as alert to an opportunity to disciple as I am to one to evangelize. Summary & Commentary Paul traveled through Macedonia and Greece with several disciples, including the author of Acts, Luke. On his last day in Troas he spoke until midnight and a young man fell asleep on the 3rd story ledge and fell to the ground. Paul threw himself upon him, a conduit for the healing power of the Holy Spirit, and the boys life was restored. Paul set out on a voyage to Miletus, bypassing Ephesus, but asking them to instead meet him there. He reviewed his ministry with them, shared his understanding from the Holy Spirit that he would not live to return to Ephesus, and warned them to beware false teachers. The seven sons of Sceva tried to copy Paul, though they were not saved, so when they challenged the demon in a possessed man the demon challenged them back and then empowered the man to beat them. Jesus was praised and fifty thousand silver coins worth of magic books and other items were voluntarily destroyed by the people. The makers of silver artifacts to a false god stirred up trouble and violence broke out in Ephesus, nearly a riot, but a leader calmed the people -- warning them that the Romans would treat them badly for causing trouble without cause -- that if they had a legal complain against Paul and the others they needed to take it before a proper court. Paul informed the disciples that he was going on to Jerusalem, knowing that there waited the most fierce and violent opposition to the Word of God about Christ. Interaction Consider The short-sightedness of the makers of silver statues to a false god not only almost got the into serious trouble with the Romans it kept them from eternal salvation. Discuss Why were the sons of Sceva powerless before the demon-possessed man but Paul and the disciples could command the demons to depart and they had to obey? Reflect The points of emphasis in Paul's parting words to the "elders of the church" from Ephesus: I served you with humility I declared Christ despite the threats of the religious leaders I worked with my hands to support myself and those with me I earnestly discipled you and now expect you to do the same for others Just as Jesus had Judas you have weak men among you who will betray you The "elders" are to care for and feed the flock, as Jesus instructed the Apostle Peter Share When have you observed someone stuck in the "baptism of John", repentant of their sins -- pre-saved -- but not yet surrendered to the Lordship of Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Faith in Action Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me His inventory of my service to Christ, based on the list from Paul's summary, and to motivate me where I need to make adjustments. Action: I will identify at least one of the items that "convicts" me where I fall-short and will ask a fellow believer to pray in agreement with me for improvement. Today I will take a look at the fellowship with which I am affiliated to measure health and teachability. Be Specific ______________________________________________________ Wednesday's text will be: Acts 20 -- Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you, Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day! David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary! Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com Bible Resources: http://bible.org Teacher's Verse: John 7:16 I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: