Let Go Of The Anger (Romans 12:18-21)

by Chuck Ness

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured. Paul tells us to;

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking
be put away from you, with all malice. Ephesians 4:31

Anger and rage do more harm to those those who practice it, than it does to the person the anger is targeted at. How many times have we witnessed someone so full of anger and rage that they end up doing something that only hurts themselves. How many times has that happened to you?

The Lord our God gave us a free will. The ability to choose which road to take in our daily journey. We can choose to walk in peace with The Lord, or we can choose to walk in anger with the enemy. One is grace the other is not, one is obedience the other is sin.

From Dispirited Followers to Believers Unto Death

by Chuck Ness

Almost 2000 years ago, there were eleven men who had abandoned their leader in his time of need. Twelve men, if you count the one who betrayed him with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver. The rest scattered as HE was arrested, scourged and then lifted like a snake in the desert. For three years these men clung to their leader, absorbing HIS every Word as HE traveled around teaching and performing miracles. They watched as HE healed paraplegics, cured those with leprosy, gave sight to the blind, and untied the tongues of the mute. They even witnessed HIM bringing back to life a friend who's body was so dead it smelled of rotting flesh.

Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
John 11:38-39

It must be stated that the followers would have known about the three times in Israel's past when a Prophet raised someone who was dead back to life. Yet in all of three cases the time of death was within a 24 hour period. The first time was when the prophet Elijah brought a widow's son back to life. (1 Kings 16:17-24). The second time was when his disciple, Elisha, raised the Shunammite woman's son from the dead. (2 Kings 4:18-37). The last time was the day a dead man's body was tossed into Elijah's tomb. The very moment the man's body touched Elisha's bones he came back to life. (2 kings 13:20-21)

Persecuted For My Name’s Sake

Pastor Yohan Maria murdered in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh India

Some will take this as an anti-pretribulation rapture post, but it is not. My opinion on ones view of the end times is that it has no bearing upon one's salvation, so why waste your time thinking about it? My point for this post is about those who think they will not be persecuted. Which in and of itself goes against the teachings of the One we put our faith in, Jesus Christ.

by Chuck Ness

What has become one of my biggest pet peeves in Christianity these days, is how so many of my Christian brethren pray they will not be left behind or persecuted for their faith. It bugs me, because nowhere do you read that the early church believed that their persecutions would cease in this World. Thus they may have prayed for protection, but they also understood they would eventually suffer for Christ. Instead, when they were persecuted, they actually felt blessed to be persecuted. Being persecuted is the cost of doing GOD's will. So like the early Christians, we should consider it an honor to be persecuted for Christ. After all, GOD considered His Son worthy to be persecuted and sacrificed for us.

Now I do not claim we should never pray for the safety of ourselves and others, but to do so with the expectation you will never be persecuted in this World for following Jesus is not what we are told. Do you believe that those in China, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, North Korea, and other places do not pray for their safety? Of course they do, but they also realize that they will continue to be persecuted. For those of us in America, the writing is on the wall that, one day soon we too shall be persecuted in similar extreme ways we see our brothers and sisters around the World being persecuted.

“Eternity In Their Hearts” Book Review

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has
put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can
find out the work that God does from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

by Chuck Ness

Don Richardson spent many years in Papua New Guinea. In his research, he investigated many cultures and their religious ceremonies. This book is a result of that investigative work. The first time I read this book was back in 2004, and I still find myself picking it up from time to time. The information inside is well worth the few dollars you may spend.

Besides being an avid reader of Christian literature, I am also a history buff, so I love learning about different cultures and how they came about. Yet, regardless of how cultures around the World and throughout history are different, I am always amazed at how similar the people truly are. My faith in God has always allowed me to see those similarities, and this book helps reiterate my belief that God created us all to be one people under The One true GOD.

What About The Sabbath?

To be used with Matthew 11:1-19 Study

To understand the division of Bible into chapters and verses

by Chuck Ness

Throughout His ministry, Jesus never once broke the fourth commandment which required that all Jews observe the Sabbath. He was after all Jew. However, He did give us a clue that a change to the Sabbath was coming. To make my point, you must first understand that the original manuscripts of the Scriptures were not divided into verses and chapters.

The Old Testament manuscripts were written by scribes for the religious leaders to study. The New Testament manuscripts were letters originally written to be dispersed amongst the believers to read. They were like the letters you receive today. Just a document written in sentences and paragraphs with no verse or chapter numbers.

Christianity

The Ancient Church of Antioch is in Damascus Syria. It was on the
road to Antioch where Saul of Tarsus met Christ and was converted.
It's also where the followers of Christ were first called Christians.

by Adam Lustig

”Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought
him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught
great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch."
Acts 11:25-26

Have you ever thought what the world would be like without Christianity impacting it? Ask a secular person who has heard propaganda and misinformation about Christianity and they will tell you everything they have heard minus the the truth of scripture. Many of us get upset the way Christianity has been attacked by the/a lie, forgetting that many of us were there at one time.

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.

The Clarion Call of the Great Commission

At the end of this commentary is a short video of a Pastor named, Ken Graves. It's just a portion of a much longer message, but it fits this commentary on the "Great Commission". It fits because all the men I mention in this commentary lived a hard life that was filled with pain, disappointment, and death. Yet with death they had the ultimate victory. All this for a chance to spread the Gospel. Ken offers something all men need to hear about life being hard. He points out how most of us have yet to truly feel the pain of suffering for Christ. 

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."Matthew 28:19-20

by Chuck Ness

These were the last words Jesus spoke to His disciples before He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. Yet it would take the stoning of Stephen to force His followers to obey His last commandment. Soon, the early Christians would leave friends, family, and home to answer the clarion call of the "Great Commission" to spread the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. For the next couple hundred years Christianity would spread throughout the Roman Empire like chickenpox in a child's day care center.

It's no coincidence that the standard bearer which missionaries used as their example throughout the years has been Paul of Tarsus, who was present when Stephen was stoned. By being the example of what it means to follow the "Great Commission", Paul would take the gospel to the Gentiles of the Roman Empire, and eventually share the gospel with Nero himself. For the next couple of centuries men like Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian would continue where Paul and the other disciples left off until 314 BC when Constantine would embrace Christianity and make it the favored religion of the empire.

The More You Know, The More You Know You Don't Know

by Chuck Ness

Solomon was blessed with much Wisdom and knowledge which allowed him to discover many things about the world around him. Solomon is credited with writing the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, and 2 Psalms - 72 & 127. Throughout his writings Solomon shared the Wisdom and knowledge God had blessed him with. He was so admired by all the Kings and Queens of other countries that they sought out his Wisdom and paid tribute to him. Like Solomon, we too can better understand the world God created for us if we truly desire to.

It has always been my belief that everyone should try and learn something new everyday. It is something that I learned from an American history professor when I was in college. When asked by a student why he should learn history, she responded with something that stayed with me ever since. She said, "The reason we study anything is because the more we know, the more we know we don't know." Then she added another piece of philosophy all students should understand. "Those who forget the past, will inevitably repeat the same mistakes of those in the past over and over again".

My Thoughts on the Epistle to the Hebrews

By Chuck Ness

I can truly say that my understanding of the salvation I received from Christ has been made abundantly clearer thanks to this letter. I would love to thank the author for the growth I gained in studying this letter. However the identity of the author is unknown, but there is no lack of ideas as to who wrote it. The list goes on and on as to who the author was. The opinions run the gamut from Barnabas, Paul, and Apollos (whom I personally go back and forth in awarding my vote to) some scholars even suggest that either Priscilla or Mary the mother of Jesus was the author. I have my reasons why I do not think the author was a woman, however even if we knew who wrote this, a most excellent of epistles, it would not add, nor take from, one iota of importance to its contents.

That being said, I shall not get into the many minutia of who the author is, except to say the letter is truly inspired by the Holy Spirit and that is really all that matters.

Happy Valentines To Everyone from Christ Jesus

by Chuck Ness

True love only comes when you empty yourself of all yourself.
Only then can you experience the love that God has for us

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,but have not love, it profits me nothing.