End Of Sorrow In Christ

by Chuck Ness

An interesting lesson was given to me. Please follow my thinking on this. Consider this about our walk in this World as a born again child in Christ

While reading through Leviticus in my morning quiet time, I came to Leviticus 21:10. This is where GOD gives HIS regulations to the son’s of Aaron, which the line of High Priests are to come from, as to how they are to conduct themselves.

In particular, this part speaks of how the priests are to act towards the dead. One regulation is that the one’s anointed to be high Priests among their brethren, are never ever to uncover their head nor ever tear their cloths.

Four Views Of Eschatology

by Chuck Ness

To fully appreciate “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”, one must read it in conjunction with passages from other books of the Bible. Specifically, but not exclusively, Scriptures found in Daniel, Zechariah, Ezekiel, and various verses found in the New Testament. I also believe having an understanding of world history, economics, and politics is a must to get a proper perspective of the end times. However, even with all these tools at ones disposal we find no shortage of opinions as to what these visions of John represents.

A quick search on Google shows that there are almost 100 million sites claiming to have insight that can help the reader understand this book, and that is just the English web sites. What and who to believe can be greatly influenced by each individual’s understanding of a select number of Scriptures and ones understanding of when this letter was written. Even among those who agree on the major points find that they disagree on many minor issues. To make it a bit simpler, there are four four distinct interpretations when it comes to eschatology, Preterist, Historicist, Spiritualist, and Futurist.

The Picture Bible

by Chuck Ness

I was in an old used bookstore the other day. I like looking for old books written by Christians who came and went long before we lived. If I find one I like I purchase it. Well as I was looking I came across a Picture Bible, put together for children. Now it's not as old as many I find, it was actually published in 1979. I just could not resist. Every page is illustrated with just enough words added to tell the story. 

As I flipped through it I was impressed at the accuracy of their short explanations they added to the illustrations. As you know, with children you must truncate stories to get the idea across to their young minds, without sacrificing the message of the event.

I took some pictures of the story they illustrated about king David and Bathsheba. Many are familiar with the story.  The pictures have few words added, but enough to do a good job of summarizing the story.  Even if you are an adult you will enjoy it.

My Understanding of The End Times

by Chuck Ness

As I watched the events of the week unfold before my eyes, I was struck by the way we as a nation have been transformed from a fairly stable capitalist Republic into a very shaky Socialist state almost overnight. Then as I prepared my outline on the seven churches of Revelations for my Sunday sermon, I found myself reading the term paper I wrote in seminary class a few years back on the book of Revelations. Considering the speed at which things have evolved in the past year, it is my opinion that what I wrote back then is relevant to today’s discussion. Remember, I wrote this four years ago when George Bush was still our President, and Barack Obama was still an absentee voter in the Illinois state senate. Well, here is the summary I wrote for that term paper.

7th Church Is Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church (part 8)

by Chuck Ness

Founded around 255 BC and named after his wife Laodice by the Seleucid King Antiochus II, this city was located about 100 miles directly east of the first church mentioned by Christ, "Ephesus". Situated on one of the great Asian trade routs, Laodicea become prosperous because of its garment industry which used a black wool that had a soft texture like silk and could be found only in the Lycus Valley. However, it was also known for a medical school that grew out if it’s temple worship of the Phrygian god Men Karou, located 13 miles west of Laodicea.

Its most famous medicines were ointments made from spice; "nard" for the ears and an eye salve made from alum called "Phrygian powder". This eye salve was actually a powder made by crushing Phrygian stones and forming it into tablets. Believed to be a cure for weak eyes this medication was sold throughout the Asian and the Mediterranean lands. All of these aspects of its economy led Laodicea to becoming a leading banking center. Due to the frequent earthquakes in the area, their financial success in banking meant they did not need to depend upon any aid from Rome to rebuild. Laodicea was thus a kind of Bank of America, Wal-Mart and Mayo Clinic all rolled into one.