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!
Obedient Christian Wife: In Bondage Or Freedom?
Wives Obey Your Husbands
Ephesians 5:22 says, "wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
The above scripture is one of many that is cited by both men and women to teach that the obedient Christian wife obeys her husband as though she were a child owing obedience to her father. But, isn't that what the scripture plainly says? It appears to say that to those who, in spite of years of Bible study, don't know what the words "obey," "submit" and "be subject to" means according to the Bible and not to a regular dictionary. The scripture appears to say the same to men who desire to dominate and control females in all areas of life. It also appears to appeal to women who think they're leading an honorable and humble life by being an obedient Christian wife in all things. None of the aforementioned mindsets can please God since they are in direct disagreement with his word which is not at all confusing on the subject of what it means to be an obedient Christian wife.
There's an extremely obvious and very serious flaw with literally assigning the role of the church to the Christian wife and literally assigning the role of Christ to the husband. Whereas one could forcibly assign the role of the church to the wife, there's no way to scripturally assign the role of Christ to the husband. Why? Because although the wife can obey the husband in the literal sense as the true church obeys Christ in the literal sense, it's impossible for the husband, who was born a sinner like the wife, to be the literal savior of the woman's body. Christ is literally the Savior of his body, the church, which is why obedience is truly and literally owed to him. No man is the savior of any other man, therefore, no man is the head of another man in the same way that Christ is of the church. Likewise, no man deserves to be obeyed like Christ does. Interpretation cannot be literal for the obedient Christian wife, but symbolic for the husband.
The apostle Paul even makes it clear that the comparison between the church and Christ cannot be literally duplicated between husband and wife; it can only be "shadowed." He explains in very simple language that the relationship between husband and wife is a "mystery," and that the best that a married couple can do to shadow the spiritual marriage between Christ and his church is for the husband to love his wife and for the Christian wife to reverence her husband. In Ephesians 5:31-33 Paul wrote, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. But, I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself and the wife see that she REVERENCE her husband." This is how she behaves as an obedient Christian wife.
Since when does the word "reverence" translate to obedience? Many adult children reverence their parents but they don't always obey them. Many citizens reverence law officials but their reverence doesn't automatically equal obedience to all laws at all times. Reverence for someone compels a respectful behavior when interacting with him, and when speaking of him in or out of his presence, but it doesn't compel obedience. One can refuse to obey and yet remain reverent. Is this not what the three Hebrews boys did when they refused to obey the king's law which would have caused them to sin against God? They were respectful to the king, giving him honor when they addressed him. Nevertheless, they stood firm in their refusal to obey.
Daniel 3:17-18 records their words when they said, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."
1 Peter 3:6 says, "...Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord..." Again, scripture demonstrates that the wife's obedience to her husband is her honor of him. In other words, Sara obeyed (honored) Abraham even in the way she addressed him--she called him "lord". Any amplified Bible, any paraphrased Bible, and any decent biblical commentary confirms that Sara's perfect "obedience" to Abraham was her honor of him so great that she called him "lord". Does calling someone "lord" signify obedience? If this were the case why then did Jesus say in Matthew 7:21, "not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of (obeys) my Father...."
An Obedient Christian Wife to Christ Above Man
Doesn't God's word command people to obey the laws of the land? Yes, it does. However, when that obedience obstructs obedience to Christ, sin is committed. This is why when the apostle Peter and his companions were forbidden by lawmakers to cease preaching Christ, he responded, "...we ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).
Just as laws that cause the believer to sin against God can't be obeyed, likewise, the husband who causes his wife to sin against the Lord can't be obeyed. Common sense should avoid such sins, but even when common sense seems to be inactive, the obedient Christian wife has the Bible that plainly teaches her against the danger of obedience to her husband when he's in disobedience to God. There simply is no excuse for such anti-scriptural attitudes and mentalities that are neither honorable, humble, positive, or useful to God.
Christian Wives: Be In Subjection
1 Peter 3:1 teaches, "...Ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation (behavior) of the wives."
To be subject to someone is to be under his power and authority. Again, it has been repeated over and over in scripture that simply because one is subject to another, he cannot always obey, but he must honor and reverence his "superiors." Such was the case of the three Hebrew boys, the Apostle Peter, and other biblical examples so numerous it would tire the reader to learn of them all. When God made individuals subject to the power of others, he established somewhat of a political system, a government to buffer Satan's will to institute anarchy.
Jesus repeatedly refers to heaven as a kingdom. A kingdom is a government. Every government has order, rules, different ranks for officials, reward and punishment for disobedience to laws and for disrespecting someone in a position of higher authority--even when he/she is in the wrong. The Christian husband, however dedicated he may be to Christ, is not Christ. He is not his wife's God. He didn't die for her sins; he doesn't make intercession for her when she prays to the Father; he's not her savior. He will not always have the correct answer for problems. He's not the priest of the house through whom God talks to the obedient Christian wife as though she has no relationship of her own with the Lord. Therefore, there will be times when to obey the husband will force disobedience to Christ, the eternal Husband. Refusal to obey her husband will be crucial at times, but the obedient Christian wife must pay respect, honor and reverence to her husband at all times. This is what God's word says.
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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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