Love

Love is an amazing thing. The Bible says that love is the most important thing. Jesus taught love for one another. Over all of the centuries and millenniums of human existence, it all comes down to love. Jesus said that to love your neighbor as yourself is to fulfill all of the the Ten Commandments.
Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Yahushua (Jesus) said to him, “‘You shall love Yahweh your Elohim (God) with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the first and great commandment. 39 “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” In Matthew 7:12, Jesus says,
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

So with this verse, Jesus was saying that love is everything. He sums up all thirty nine books of the Tanakh or Old Testament by saying that you should treat everyone how you would like to be treated. All those centuries and books, and all of those authors and leaders and prophets, all were saying that you should treat everyone as you would like to be treated, and all of this would be out of love. If you love everyone and treat them with love, then that is how you would like to be treated. So in the end, Jesus himself basically says that it is all about love. We are supposed to love ourselves and love everyone else.

Psalm 3 In Metre

1     O Lord, how are my foes increas'd?
       against me many rise.
2     Many say of my soul, For him
       in God no succour lies.

3     Yet thou my shield and glory art,
       th' uplifter of mine head.
4     I cry'd, and, from his holy hill,
       the Lord me answer made.

5     I laid me down and slept; I wak'd;
       for God sustained me.
6     I will not fear though thousands ten
       set round against me be.

7     Arise, O Lord; save me, my God;
       for thou my foes hast stroke
   All on the cheek-bone, and the teeth
       of wicked men hast broke.

8     Salvation doth appertain
       unto the Lord alone:
   Thy blessing, Lord, for evermore
       thy people is upon.

For more Psalms in Metre, Click here.

Book Series

Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides is the fourth book in line from the Left Behind series.

Soul Harvest takes the reader from Iraq to America, from six miles in the air to underground shelters, from desert sands to the bottom of the Tigris River, from hope to devastation and back again all in a search for truth and life.

Rayford Steele and Buck Williams fear they are alone. Each has survived the wrath of the Lamb, a global earthquake in the twenty-first month of the Tribulation. Neither know the other is alive, and each is frantically searching for his wife. Their mentor, Tsion Ben-Judah, is trapped beneath the rubble of their church. And no one knows what has happened to their old friend Hattie Durham.

As the world hurtles toward the Trumpet Judgements and the great soul harvest prophesied in Scripture, Rayford and Buck begin searching for their loved ones from different corners of the world.

Can Tsion be rescued? Will Chloe be found alive? Amanda? Hattie? And what of the dark charges that rise against Amanda? Rayford is determined to clear her name whether she is dead or alive.

Now, with the fulfillment of more judgment prophecies, hardly any skeptics remain. Even the enemies of God now know whom they are fighting, and the world is forced to take sides.

Follow what's left of the Tribulation Force as each member struggles to survive and fight Antichrist until the glorious appearing of Christ.

I particularly enjoyed this book because you begin to see more of the suffering of the apocalyptic world. I highly recommend this series of books to anyone and everyone. If you have any interest at all in what the Book of Revelation means, then you will enjoy this series.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post.

Baptism

The act of being baptized is a very interesting thing. In the New Testament, baptism is a symbol for cleansing oneself from the sins of their life and being born into the new life they have in Christ Jesus. Throughout the New Testament, the apostles of Jesus usually baptized a person or a group of people soon after they had accepted Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament.
Now when I speak of Baptism, I am referring to water baptism, and when I speak of water baptism, I mean full immersion of a person who is consciously and willingly participating in it. For instance, in Catholicism, children are usually baptized while still infants, and it is merely just dripping water on their heads. But when I speak of baptism, I am speaking of Biblical cleansing of ones soul.
The tradition of baptism began during the times of the temple when to go in to sacrifice to God, you had to immerse your entire body in a bath of water that had not been collected mechanically. So that meant that it was usually rain water or from a spring of some sort. There were many of these baths near the temple. Anyways, baptism came from this idea that you had to purify yourself to come before God. However, when Jesus came along, it became a cleansing from sin so that a person could enter God's presence and stay there. We know that this does not literally cleanse you from your sins, but symbolically we are cleansed. And the reason that we do this is because by doing so, we are being obedient to God and following what Jesus wanted us to do to show that we have accepted him and are now washing away our old self and becoming who we are in Christ.
So baptism is really about obedience and showing God that we want to live for Him.

Thoughts on the Sabbath

The Sabbath is something that I have been researching for quite a while now. I've been studying it because I have read a lot articles and books about how the Sabbath should still be kept even now. I have found strong support for keeping the Sabbath and I have learned that Jesus always kept the Sabbath. Of course Jesus said it was okay to do work if you have to, such as pulling your animal out of a hole that it fell into. I feel that I should be keeping the Sabbath because it was ordained by God and it is actually in the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. In fact, it is the only one of the Commandments that describes God.

8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to YHWH your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
-Exodus 20:8-11

So even God himself rested on the seventh day after his creation, and he made it an eternal pact between God and man. That Commandment of keeping the Sabbath day Holy is probably the only one that isn't really followed by many Christians today. I have kept some Sabbaths, but in our American society, it can be difficult considering that you often have things to do on Friday nights or Saturdays.
Jesus, and his apostles after him also kept the Sabbath, and you can find support for keeping the Sabbath here.
I have also learned that Constantine made the day of the sun the holy day soon after converting Rome to Christianity. After a few generations, no one really noticed that it was on a different day. And there is in fact no support for Sunday being the Holy day except for the Roman making the holy day. It would appear that Sunday is just another corruption by the Catholic church. Well there's not much else that I can say about this, so if you have any thoughts or questions, or if you need or want more information, just post them in the comments.

Praise and Worship

23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose.

- Acts 16:23-26

Praise and worship can be a very wonderful thing. Ever since the beginning, man has worshiped God and has given him praise. The Bible says that we should praise him with every type of instrument, and that everything that has breath should praise God. Worship brings us closer to God because it allows us to open up our hearts to God and it can bring you peace and happiness in a time of sorrow.
For more on Praise and Worship, Click here.

Psalms 150 In Metre

1    Praise ye the Lord. God's praise within
        his sanctuary raise;
   And to him in the firmament
        of his pow'r give ye praise.

2    Because of all his mighty acts,
        with praise him magnify:
   O praise him, as he doth excel
        in glorious majesty.

3    Praise him with trumpet's sound; his praise
        with psaltery advance:
4    With timbrel, harp, string'd instruments,
        and organs, in the dance.

5    Praise him on cymbals loud; him praise
        on cymbals sounding high.
6    Let each thing breathing praise the Lord.
          Praise to the Lord give ye.

For more Psalms in Metre click here.

The Lost Books of the Bible

As most people know, the Bible consists of a collection of books written by many different people over a long period of time. But what a lot of people tend to not know is that there are many other books and writings that were almost put in the Bible but were excluded at the end, and there are writings that were lost until just recently that also deal with different biblical events.
These lost books of the Bible are most often referred to as the Apocrypha or the Apocryphal texts. There a number of apocryphal texts that were left out of the Old Testament, and there are also those left out of the New Testament.
The reasoning behind why these books were not included in what we call the Bible is that the people behind the decision making felt that they were not divinely inspired by God, but merely just historical accounts of events. The Catholic church has included many of the lost books into their official canon, while most other Christian sects maintain the original amount of 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.
Lost books from the New Testament include The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, and a very famous one, The Gospel of the Nazarenes. The Gospel of the Nazarenes is also called the Gospel of the Holy Twelve, and it is...

the very Gospel that was repeatedly mentioned and described by many commentators of the early Church as the original teachings of the Nazarene called Christ.

For more information about these books visit TheNazareneWay.com and if you have any questions or thoughts, let us know in the comments.

Paul The Apostle

For anyone that doesn't know, Paul was originally a pious Jew named Saul. He was Saul of Tarsus and he hated the Christian sect of Judaism. Paul was completely against their beliefs in Jesus as the Messiah and he was later given authority to go about the land and imprison those who followed Jesus. Of course, as many know, Saul was blinded by Jesus while traveling, and that was it. Saul was convinced. Saul became a believer in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Saul was later named Paul and he became one of the most dedicated evangelists of the Gospel of Jesus.
Paul wrote many letters to many different churches and cities in which he tells them how to follow Jesus Christ more properly. Paul suffered a lot in his life as a Christian and he felt that Jesus was making him an example to show how a Christian is supposed to live. Paul had full faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus in turn saved him from many plans that people had against his life. He was imprisoned more than many other apostles and he was later beheaded for his unfaltering zeal for Jesus and he died knowing full well where he was going.
I really enjoy the story of Paul because he was as pious of a Jew as you can find, and yet even he was convinced of Jesus. He didn't know Jesus while he was on this earth, but he was able to call himself one of his apostles because he had seen Jesus when he was confronted while traveling. Paul had bad vision for the rest of his life. But the main reason that I enjoy Paul is because even if you have some doubts about the four Gospels, Paul had nothing to do with them and was completely separate from the history of it. But if this man was able to turn to Christ with such faith, then anyone could.
If you have any interesting information about Paul or any thoughts, just leave a comment.

Book Series

The third book in the Left Behind series is called Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist.

It has been nearly two years since the mass disappearance, called the Rapture.

In Nicolae the saga continues as Rayford, his new wife, Amanda, and Buck and Chloe (now married) make it their mission to win as many people to Christ as possible. The seven-year tribulation is nearing the end of the first quarter, when prophecy says "the wrath of the Lamb" will be poured out upon the earth.

As the seven-year period hurtles toward the midpoint, the Tribulation Force faces conflict at every turn in their holy war against Nicolae Carpathia, the ruler of the new Global Community.

Rayford and Buck work directly for Carpathia, who knows of Rayford's true allegiance, but not of Buck's.

In Nicolae, the most explosive of the three books thus far, Rayford becomes the ears of the tribulation saints at the highest levels of the Carpathia regime. Meanwhile, Buck attempts a dramatic all-night rescue run from Israel through the Sinai that will hold you breathless to the end.

As all of the books from this series, it was very interesting and easy to follow. I recommend this series of books to everyone. If you have recommendations for other books, or thoughts, tell us in the comments.

Psalm 13 In Metre

1    How long wilt thou forget me, Lord?
     shall it for ever be?
O how long shall it be that thou
     wilt hide thy face from me?

2    How long take counsel in my soul,
     still sad in heart, shall I?
How long exalted over me
     shall be mine enemy?

3    O Lord my God, consider well,
     and answer to me make:
Mine eyes enlighten, lest the sleep
     of death me overtake:

4    Lest that mine enemy should say,
     Against him I prevail'd;
And those that trouble me rejoice,
     when I am mov'd and fail'd.

5    But I have all my confidence
     thy mercy set upon;
My heart within me shall rejoice
     in thy salvation.

6    I will unto the Lord my God
     sing praises cheerfully,
Because he hath his bounty shown
     to me abundantly.

For more Psalms in metre, Click here.

Catholicism

Catholicism is today the most powerful branch of Christianity. It has centuries of history and has been involved in many events to happen in this world in the last fifteen hundred years. Roman Catholicism is based out of Vatican City in Rome. The story goes that Vatican hill is where St. Peter was crucified. Peter, however, was crucified upside down because he said he was unworthy to die the same way as his Lord Jesus. Peter was later buried on the site that he was crucified, and slowly over time, monument after monument was built on top of his tomb until now which is where St. Peter's Basilica is.
Catholicism has grown in power and has the most money of every religion on earth. Catholicism is filled with tradition and is very iconic and uses such things as stained glass windows and has many statues to commemorate saints and other important people of Christianity.
I am not a catholic though, but I do like the fact that they have such a long history. Honestly, I don't agree with a lot of Catholicism's traditions and customs, and I feel that a lot of what they do is not Biblical, but that's just my opinion. I would however, like to see that all historic documents be printed from the vaults of the Vatican so that they may all be available to the world and thus give the world more knowledge about a world that they know so little of. Th fact is that the Vatican keeps record of everything that it has ever dealt with, and they have all of these records preserved in their libraries and and vaults. Many of the items located in the secret areas of the Vatican are items that had a great value at one time but have now been forgotten. Lost works of authors and original copies of many famous works are located in the Vatican vaults. There is no real purpose to this post, it's just to bring up the fact that the Vatican has many secrets that it keeps from the rest of the world, and I think that it would only be fair if these secrets were revealed to the world.
If you have any thoughts or questions about what I'm saying, go ahead and post in the comments.

Communion

Communion is an interesting thing in Christianity because it is something so simple, and yet it has a very powerful meaning. The Last Supper of Jesus Christ before he was crucified was simply a Passover Seder. As a Jewish man, Jesus was inclined to come to Jerusalem annually to celebrate the passover. But on this passover, Jesus knew what was coming next. He took the matzo and he broke it an he told them that this was his body and that it was broken for his people. Later, he took the wine and said that it was his blood of the new covenant with God the Father. Symbolically, this is amazing. The broken Matzo is a sign of his body being destroyed by man for the sins of men. And also the wine signifies the blood that he would shed throughout the time of his crucifixion and it was the blood necessary to establish the new covenant with God where man could finally be free from his overwhelming sins.
It is incredible how Jesus knew everything that would happen to him, and he accepted his burden because he knew what he was sent for. It is also interesting how Jesus told us to continue the communion to remember him. Unlike baptism, Communion is not just a one time thing. We are to do it always and remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for all of us his people.
If you have any thoughts on communion or if you would like more informayion, feel free to comment.

The Death of Jesus

Something that completely fascinates me is when Jesus was on the cross. In Matthew 27:46 it says, "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These are famous lines that he was actually reciting from the Psalms. The part that I find completely amazing is why he said those words.
Throughout all of time, Jesus has been God and he has been in Heaven in wonderful glory. Later, when he came to this earth, he was in constant contact with God. He was always praying and speaking with him. Even while he was on the cross he still prayed. But then, as he was coming closer to death, God had to let him die as a sinner. The only way the world could be saved was if Jesus literally took their place, and so, at that moment, God stepped back and turned his back on him because he had to die a sinner's death. And at that exact moment, Jesus finally knew what it was like to be a sinner because the weight of it all came crashing down on him, and he felt what it was like to not have God with you. This was something completely new to him and it hurt him. Even after all the torture and torment he went through, the thing that hurt him the most was the fact that he was alone. That's what hurt him more than anything that they could have done to him. And that's why I know that really is God, because the only time he was weak was at the moment that God had to turn his back on him. And then instantly in Heaven there was great rejoicing because the Jesus had won and had died the death of all deaths for all of mankind. He had won, and there was nothing that could have ever held him back.

Thoughts On Religion

Religion is a very fascinating thing. I find it so intriguing how people all over the world feel the need for something bigger than themselves. In every part of the world, you find many different religions and practices by different types of people. I personally am a Christian, and so I believe that Jesus was the Son of God and is in fact God himself. I believe that God the Father had it planned from before the beginning that Jesus would come to this earth and that he would be the only way to forgiveness.
As many people know, the Jewish people sacrificed animals to God for the forgiveness of sins. In some cultures, their gods were bloodthirsty and so they slaughtered the animals or people to appease the gods. However, I find it interesting that the God of the Jews did not want the blood of the animals because he was bloodthirsty. He merely instituted the sacrificing of animals because he would allow the sins of the people to be put on the animals, and then those sins would be forgiven.
From the very beginning, God knew that all the animals that the world could ever produce to be given as sacrifices would never be enough to rid the world of all of its sin. And this was incredible because God knew what he had to do before he even made the universe. He sent Jesus Christ to this earth as a pure spirit. Jesus was perfect and without sin. He had all the knowledge and wisdom, and he knew exactly what he had been sent for.
In the Gospel of John we learn that Jesus was in fact the creator of everything, and everything was created for him. And so, Jesus came to this earth to fulfill his mission because he knew that if he became that sacrifice, he would be filled with the sins of all and the world would have complete forgiveness if they want it.
And so Christianity has become what it is today. It has come so far in the last two thousand years, and it will continue to grow until Jesus himself returns for his people.
If you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to post them in the comments.

Psalm 1 in Metre

1    That man hath perfect blessedness,
       who walketh not astray
  In counsel of ungodly men,
       nor stands in sinners' way,

  Nor sitteth in the scorner's chair:
2          But placeth his delight
  Upon God's law, and meditates
       on his law day and night.

3    He shall be like a tree that grows
       near planted by a river,
  Which in his season yields his fruit,
       and his leaf fadeth never:

  And all he doth shall prosper well
4        The wicked are not so;
  But like they are unto the chaff,
       which wind drives to and fro.

5    In judgment therefore shall not stand
       such as ungodly are;
  Nor in th' assembly of the just
       shall wicked men appear.

6    For why? the way of godly men
       unto the Lord is known:
  Whereas the way of wicked men
       shall quite be overthrown.

Again, very interesting. I enjoy being able to read the Psalms in this poetic metre structure. Click here for website.

Moses and the Divine Name

12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

-Exodus 3:12-14

In this event in the Bible, the God of Abraham reveals his name to Moses. In Hebrew the words of God are transliterated as "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" which is commonly translated as "I AM THAT I AM." I've read that a more accurate translation would be "I will be what I will be." This of course could mean that God is constantly revealing himself to mankind in whatever way he chooses. I think this is very interesting because we know that God has no limit or end, and this name that he gives to Moses just reinforces that you can't predict what God is going to do, and in this life, we can never fully know or understand what God the Father is all about.

If you have any thoughts or questions,I encourage comments.

Book Series

The book Tribulation Force is the second book in the Left Behind series. This book deals with a core group of characters who have banded together after knowing the truth behind the disappearances and accepting Jesus Christ for themselves. In the second book, we see the characters as they struggle to survive while they know it is only the beginning of the seven year tribulation.
This book is another fascinating read. It is very well put together, and it is very easy to follow, and just like Left Behind, it keeps you interested and it keeps you involved.
If anybody has any thoughts on this book or any questions, go ahead and post on the comments.

YHWH Comes With Power

See, the Sovereign YHWH comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.

Isaiah 40:10

Daniel's Dream of Four Beasts

Daniel 7

Daniel's Dream of Four Beasts

1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.

2 Daniel said: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

4 "The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.

5 "And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, 'Get up and eat your fill of flesh!'

6 "After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

7 "After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

8 "While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

9 "As I looked,
"thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.

10 A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened.

11 "Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)

13 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, ^[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

The Interpretation of the Dream

15 "I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this.

"So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 17 'The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. 18 But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.'

19 "Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. 20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. 21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.

23 "He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. 25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. ^[b]

26 " 'But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. 27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.'

28 "This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself."

Footnotes:

1. Daniel 7:13 The Aramaic phrase bar enash means human being. The phrase son of man is retained as a form of address here because of its traditional associations.
2. Daniel 7:25 Or for a year, two years and half a year

For source of this online Bible, visit BibleGateway.com

Psalm 23 in Metre

1    The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want.
2          He makes me down to lie
In pastures green: he leadeth me
    the quiet waters by.

3    My soul he doth restore again;
    and me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
    ev'n for his own name's sake.

4    Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,
    yet will I fear none ill:
For thou art with me; and thy rod
    and staff me comfort still.

5    My table thou hast furnished
    in presence of my foes;
My head thou dost with oil anoint,
    and my cup overflows.

6    Goodness and mercy all my life
    shall surely follow me:
And in God's house for evermore
    my dwelling-place shall be.

If you would like to see all of the Psalms in metre, then click here for the actual website. If you know of any other interesting websites or books that deal with any Books of the Bible, post them in the comments.

Words Matter

For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
-Matthew 12:37

Book Series

Here's a series that I am going to start that deals with different books. As I posted earlier, I have been reading the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.
The first book in this series is of course called, Left Behind. It introduces us to all the main characters and reveals to us who has been left behind. We experience the shock of the people when they find that millions have disappeared, and the even greater shock of those who realize what has really happened. The story revolves around the main characters, Cameron "Buck" Williams and Rayford Steele.
This book is a very interesting read. It is easy to read and follow, and it will keep you interested. If you have read this book or any of the Left Behind series, or if you have any questions, then post them under the comments.

National Sunday Law

For many hundreds of years, Sunday has been the day that Christians have observed as the holy day of the week. Originally, however, it was of course Saturday or the Sabbath. In his Book, "National Sunday Law," A. Jan Marcussen discusses how it was the Catholic church that changed the weekly holy day to Sunday instead of Saturday. He also discusses many radical ideas and claims by the Catholic church and supports it all with actual facts and even scripture. This is a fascinating read and it can make you aware of many things. If you want to read National Sunday Law online instead of buying the book, Click Here. If you read the book, or if you have any thoughts about this work or the Catholic church, please let us know in the comments.

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai are the fundamental laws of the entire Jewish faith and also plays a role in Christianity and even in modern law systems.

Exodus 20:
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a very fascinating find. There is a very interesting story behind the finding of these ancient scrolls that were scattered across the Judean desert more than a thousand years ago. They are actually the oldest copies of Biblical texts that have been found.
If you have any interest in reading the Dead Sea Scrolls for yourself, you can find many resources online about the Qumran community; who were the ones who had these scrolls all those years ago. A book that I own is "The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible" and it is a very good read because it gives you all the words of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and it tells you where it differs from modern translations.
What do you all know about the Dead Sea Scrolls, and what resources can you find? Tell us in the comments.

YHWH

The name of God seems to have gone through a lot since he revealed it to Moses in the book of Exodus. The name of God is transliterated into English as YHWH, and is pronounced as Yahweh. The Hebrews lost the tradition of saying the name openly, and it came to the point that it was pretty much lost. In the Masoretic text of the Bible, the name YHWH is given different vowels so that people will not say it correctly. Martin Luther did not know of this intentional change and so he translated it as Jehovah, and that is why we now have that name.
An interesting article I found was "The Errancy of the Masoretic Text and the KJV." It is a very interesting article about the Masoretic text and also brings in the Septuagint. For more of this article, click here. Comment and say what you think of any of these issues.

Biblical Tassels

I read an interesting article on Eliyah's Homepage less than a year ago that dealt with Biblical tassels. He basically describes the the law of God and how everyone was to wear tassels, and he supports his views with a lot of Bible verses, which I admired because he is able to delve into the Word and find the support he needs. After reading this article, I made a set for myself with his page on How to make Tassels. I later made a set for my brother, and I can now make them very easily. I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did, and if you have any thoughts or corrections about anything, feel free to post on the comments.

Calling

When God called Moses to do his work, Moses couldn't speak very well and he wasn't all that smart, and he was a murderer. God didn't just choose him because he had a good heart or anything, but because in the end, everything glorifies God. The reason God chose moses, and the reason God chooses the weak or meek or the humble is because God wants to say, "Look at what I can do with someone who you see as weak." God simply does it to show us how easy it is for him to make something great by something that seems to be worthless.

The Great Commandment

Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Commandment

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy.

Sabbath

Tonight at sunset is the beginning of Shabbat (Sabbath) which is the seventh day of the week. The seventh day is when God himself ceased work and rested after all he had made. Interestingly, even though calendars and years and months have changed over time, you might find it intriguing to know that the seven day cycle has never been lost. Also, all over the world in antiquity, people coincidentally had seven day weeks as well. Shabbat begins tonight at Sunset and ends tomorrow night at sunset.

Judaism and Christianity

Throughout time, it has seemed to be that Christianity has disliked Judaism. Historically, the Jews have been persecuted time and again merely for holding on to their religion. I wanted to discuss this because I believe that Christianity owes a very large amount to Judaism.
As most people know, Christianity is actually a branch off of Judaism that grew and became its own religion entirely. God gave the Law to Moses, Moses passed it down, and generation after generation of Jews followed the Laws of the Torah (First five books of the Bible). Prophets later spoke of a Messiah that would be sent by God through the lineage of King David and he would take the throne of Israel and be its King forever. The prophet Isaiah devoted many chapters to the coming Messiah and spoke about different qualities of him.
Centuries later, a Man from Galilee in Nazareth was born in the City of David, Bethlehem during the reign of Herod the Great. In our modern Gregorian calendar, we mark this as the beginning of our current years. However, it is believed that he was actually born in the spring somewhere between 6 and 4 B.C.
This man was of course known as Jesus, which is English for the Aramaic name Yeshua, or the Hebrew Yahushua. Christianity developed from his teachings and from the belief that he was in fact the prophesied Messiah who God had sent. If you want to support from the Old Testament for Jesus being the Messiah, Click here.
As we know, Jesus was Jewish and he lived a simple Jewish life, and his followers still lived Jewish lives even after he was no longer with them. However, over time, both groups began to discriminate against each other. Jews felt that those Christians were crazy for thinking that Jesus was the Messiah, and Christians felt it was so obvious that Jesus was the Messiah that they thought the Jews were foolish and hardheaded. Now there is less hostility between the two groups. And I wanted to bring up a website called Eliyah's Homepage, and I found this site very interesting because it says that Christians are supposed to still follow Jewish tradition and keep to they ways of the Old Testament, and this Man supports his ideas heavily with the Bible which I thought was very good. I'm just putting this up in case anyone wants to check it out. If you have any comments about this or anything on Judaism and Christianity, let us know in the comments.
If you're interested in Jewish-Christian relations, click here.

Books

I am currently reading the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. I am about to begin reading the ninth book and I should be able to complete the thirteen book series this summer.

In the beginning

Well seeing as this is only the first actual post, I felt it necessary to start from the beginning. Those famous words from the first book of Moshe (Moses) where the narrator states, "In the beginning Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth." Of course this is the moment of the beginning of everything where God decided to create a universe and so he created it with a purpose. That purpose of course was to create life on a singular planet in a special place that he created by design; a place where he could make life and see his creation come into fulfillment. Now there are a vast amount of theories about the creation of the universe which include the big bang theory, different chaos theories, and of course the intelligent design theory.
Many people try to disprove the intelligent design theory by saying that it is impossible for something to be created out of nothing. It is a very interesting thought indeed, but then who created even that. I'm not trying to dissuade people of their opinions or beliefs; I know that I can't prove to all of them the existence of God, but I can make sense of many things when I realize how complex the universe actually is. For instance, when we look at lifeforms under a microscope, we see that they are made of a union of cells working and dying together. And when we look even closer, we find that each cell is made up of a nucleus and many other integral parts for life. And even more when we look closer, we find that all of the tiny particles are merely molecules made up of a huge number of atoms, and that each atom has its own nucleus and electrons that fly around it so fast that it makes a solid wall around the nucleus.
We realize that life and everything involved in it is very complex, and that just further gives me the idea that God really is all powerful. You can start to see his power when you think that he is the one who created each of those atoms and that he created every one of those complexities because it was the best way to make life. He could have easily made life simpler, but he fashioned everything out of these simple atoms and molecules. Why? Maybe he doesn't want reproduction to be possible. I don't know. Maybe there's just something else there that we really don't understand. God didn't create us to understand everything about him. He created us love what we can understand about him.
The universe is so large that I wonder how someone could possibly create all of that by just a word. Just wanting to make the universe, he thought it and made it. It just shows me how limited I am, and how I will never be able to create such a thing.

Intro

Well, this is actually going to be a blog where I discuss various themes and ideas from the bible. I will bring in ideas from different things that I have learned and books that I have read. Hopefully it goes well.