Truth really can be stranger than fiction.
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La verdad puede ser más extraña que la ficción.
First Page - ¡Ya está en marcha! Todas las historias son verídicas, o están basadas en hechos reales. Lectura ilimitada por $4.99 / mes. No hay que descargar nada. Lea en su teléfono, tableta u ordenador.
Manna Minutes Podcast: Eye-opening Bible study in less than five minutes! Access all episodes here.
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Estudio bíblico que nos hace abrir los ojos en menos de cinco minutos! Acceda a todos los episodios aquí.
Manna Minutes Podcast auf Deutsch:
Augenöffnendes Bibelstudium in weniger als fünf Minuten! Alle Episoden finden Sie hier.
Was There A Curse On Helen's Romantic Life?
The Third Man by Angela Sheffield is based on a true story. Read chapter one now!
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¿Qué tiene que ver conmigo? por Teófila Gottfried
Lo que leemos en la Biblia tiene que ver con todos los seres humanos, sean cristianos o judíos, ateos o agnósticos, budistas, musulmanes o adherentes a alguna de las filosofías o nuevas religiones que surgen en el mundo. ¿Por qué? Ver mayor información sobre este interesante libro.
Scripture of The Day - St. John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Escritura del día - San Juan 14,6
Jesús le dijo: Yo soy el camino, y la verdad, y la vida; nadie viene al Padre, sino por mí.
Bibelstelle des Tages - Johannes 14,6
Jesus spricht zu ihm: Ich bin der Weg und die Wahrheit und das Leben; niemand kommt zum Vater, denn durch mich!
Jesus Did NOT Come To Bring World Peace - Manna Minutes Podcast
Our Manna Minutes podcast is a less-than-five-minute, but complete, Bible study. Listen, and / or download: Jesus Did NOT Come To Bring World Peace. For an in-depth study of the topic, simply keep reading.
Regarding global peace, Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came NOT to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance (war) against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes (enemies) shall be they of his own household." (Matthew 10:34-36).
Our answer is plain and clear, the first coming of Christ was NOT to establish perpetual global peace. In fact, we see that the gospel of Jesus and life in this present world go hand in hand with serious conflict within families, villages, towns, nations, and even entire regions.
Persecution of Christians and the Sword
Many Christians around the world suffer extreme persecution, torture, and are murdered for their faith in Jesus. This is the spiritual sword that was sent in the earth at the first coming of Jesus.
The world hates Jesus; therefore, it persecutes his disciples (St John 15:18-25). Satan is the god of this present world (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Matthew 4:8-9). This does not mean that God is not in control. It means that the world systems (governments) and ways of doing things tend to be contrary to God's government. God is always in absolute control. Consider the fact that the most powerful and evil ruler this world will ever know, the Antichrist (son of perdition) cannot even come on the scene and take power until God allows him (2 Thessalonians 2:3-6).
Global peace does not exist because Christians do not live in obedience to the god of the present world, Satan. Instead, they are loyal to another God, another King...Jesus. Imagine if you had to live in one country, yet your loyalty was to the ruler of another. You would find yourself in serious and constant conflict.
Global Peace in Luke 2:14?
If Christ did not come to establish global peace, why does Luke 2:14 say, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"? Of course the gift of Christ was the ultimate display of God's good will toward men. However, let's focus on the words, "and on earth peace" in Luke 2:14.
There is a peace on earth that has been made possible because of the work of Christ. Men can now have peace with their fellow inhabitants of earth when they are TRUE disciples of Christ. There are many things and issues that for thousands of years have kept people divided and at war with one another.
One prime example is the peace that Jesus brought between natural Israel (the natural descendants of Abraham) and the Gentiles (all other peoples of the earth). The separation between Jew and Gentile is first seen in the Old Testament. They did not eat together (Genesis 43:32) as God had given Israel strict dietary laws (Leviticus 3:17, 7:26-27, Deuteronomy 14:3-21). To eat together is to enjoy communion with someone. This is why communion is observed, in the natural, by believers gathering together to eat the holy supper (1 Corinthians 11:33). Instruction on the separation between Jew and Gentile is also seen in Deuteronomy 7:1-6.
Peter said, "...Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation..." (Acts 10:28).
The Old Testament does not teach that God shunned the Gentiles (also referred to as the nations, foreigners, Greeks, heathen or strangers) so that they would not enjoy communion with him. If this were true, we would not have the Old Testament scriptures that tell us that any Gentile (stranger) who wanted to celebrate Passover, just as Israel, was welcome to do so. After circumcision, a Gentile (stranger) was allowed to fully participate in the Jewish customs. God said that he was to be considered as though he had been born a descendant of Abraham (Exodus 12:43-50). In fact, even a natural-born member of Israel was not considered a Jew until he had been circumcised (Exodus 12:48).
In addition, we read in Esther 8:17 that many (Gentiles) became Jews. To be a Jew in God's eyes, goes so much farther than being a natural descendant of Abraham (Romans 2:28-29, 9:6-7, St John 8:37-44). Only by our decision to make the God of Israel our personal Lord will we truly become a Jew (Ruth 1:16).
Many Gentiles refused to accept the only true Lord, the God of Israel as their God. Likewise, many in Israel refused to obey the Lord, their God. Throughout the scriptures we read how the Gentiles were often the instruments that God used to punish Israel by enslaving, mistreating, and oppressing them with extreme cruelty.
The separation between Jew and Gentile in Old Testament times as well as the fierce oppression of Israel at the hands of Gentiles, has been greatly misunderstood universally and has, on both sides, given rise to bitterness, distrust, and dislike for one another and God.
However, because of the the work of Christ, God has abolished this wall of separation which stood in the way of the possibility of peace on earth among the children of Israel and the rest of the world. However, peace on earth among Israel and Christians who are not natural descendants of Abraham does not amount to global peace.
"But now in Christ Jesus ye (Gentiles) who sometimes (in Old Testament times) were far off are made nigh (brought close) by the blood of Christ. FOR HE IS OUR PEACE, WHO HATH MADE BOTH ONE, AND HATH BROKEN DOWN THE MIDDLE WALL OF PARTITION (separation) BETWEEN US. HAVING ABOLISHED IN HIS FLESH THE ENMITY, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain (two) one new man, so making peace..." (Ephesians 2:13-15).
It is not only the Jew Gentile relations that are peaceful in Jesus. Many other true believers can have peace on earth with people to whom they would be enemies were it not for their walk with Jesus. Again, these peaceful relations on earth is not global peace.
Based on true events, The Third Man by Angela Sheffield, brings the Bible up close and personal as the characters face real issues of life: Betrayal, deceit, romance, bitterness, anger against God, hopelessness, will power, perplexity, triumph, unforgiveness, mental illness, and the "Alcohol made me do it" excuse. Read chapter one FREE now.
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