General

Who were these Magi? They were philosophers. They were also important people, advisors to the king of Persia. They were very learned people who studied many things. But how did they know the star meant a king of the Jews had been born?

Who doesn’t love a cute little baby. Bring a newborn baby to church and watch the crowd that gathers around. No doubt, Jesus was a cute baby as well. Every baby is born with potential. What will they become? What will they achieve?

Jesus was much more than a cute little baby though and His potential was off the charts. Actually, His was more than potential. Jesus was\is King. Not just a king but the King of Kings.

After His birth, Jesus had some interesting visitors. Magi, or Wise Men from the east, Persia came to visit Him. Here’s a couple trivia questions. How many kings were at the stable where Jesus was born? Answer, one – Jesus. Jesus was not visited by kings as some songs erroneously say, but rather Magi or “wise men”. How many magi visited Jesus at the stable? Answer, zero. The magi did not visit Jesus at the nativity site. They visited Him later, at a house (Matthew 2:11). It could have been days, months, even up to two years later they visited Him.

This visit was planned by God and set in place many years earlier. Most of us know the story that the wise men followed the great star that appeared in the sky to worship and give reverence to “one born King of the Jews”.

This really should raise some questions in our mind. These people, made a journey of eight or nine hundred miles because of a stellar event of a star appearing in the sky, “His star” they called it. That’s quite a journey, quite a commitment. Why would they do that? They would have had to have been very confident to make such a journey. How did they know this star was for the one born King of the Jews? Where did they get such an idea?

To answer this, we need to know more about who the Magi were. They were philosophers. They were also important people, advisors to the king of Persia. They were very learned people who studied many things. But how did they know the star meant a king of the Jews had been born? Also, future Jewish kings were born before this. Kings come and go and new ones are born to take their place. What made them believe this one was different or special?

So how would they know? To answer that we have to go back to Persia, many years earlier to a man named Daniel. Daniel was a Jew who had been taken into captivity when Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and brought Israelite men back to Babylon. In short he did very well and God blessed him. He eventually became a powerful leader in Babylon, including being chief of, yes, the Magi. As such he taught the Magi many things and left them with his writings , the book of Daniel, and other scripture. From this the Magi learned of a coming King of the Jews who would be different than all others. They surely would have known Daniel’s prophecy in chapter nine which includes a timeline for the birth of the Messiah. Also, they may have been aware of the prophecy of Balaam in Numbers 24 which mentions a “star coming out of Jacob.”

Hundreds of years earlier God set in place a plan to bring Magi from Persia to visit Jesus after His birth. God went to great lengths to make sure this detail was in place.

Why was this detail of Jesus’ birth so important? For this we can see one clue in Herod’s reaction when the wise men told him their reason for being there. But first lets look at one more Christmas trivia item? How many magi or wise men came to visit Jesus? Answer, we don’t know. We always say three, but that’s simply because three gifts were presented. It could have been many more and indeed it was probably more then three people. It is highly unlikely the magi travelled alone. These were important people after all. They likely had many servants and others accompanying them for such a long and arduous trip. Plus, its unlikely anyone would have taken much notice of three travelers coming through. Its more likely there was a great entourage.

Back to Herod’s reaction. When he heard the wise men were there to worship “one born King of the Jews” he was severely troubled. So much so he wanted this child killed and was willing to go to great lengths to have it done. He ordered ALL boys two and under in that area killed to make sure he got this new born king. Now we could conclude he did this because was an unstable psychopath, which is possible. But this is an extreme act simply for a rumor that a future king had been born. Anyone could claim that. It is more likely that he was convinced that this one born was indeed special and had a legitimate claim to the throne. Which leads us to another important point.

The Magi were not just philosophers and advisors to the king of Persia. They were king-makers. It was customary for a future king to be anointed by such types of men. Remember Samuel when he anointed Saul and then David to be king? Similarly, the Magi anointed kings. Herod knew this.

Here we see another great detail God put in place for Jesus’ coming. He would be anointed King by the king-makers whose descendants Daniel and other godly men with him, brought into captivity, would teach and share the scriptures and prophecies concerning Jesus. God plans and works out every detail for the salvation of man – then and now.

Jesus is King and oh what a King He is. As Daniel says in chapter 7 of his book, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” And Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:15, “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”

The theory of evolution (still just a theory) has been widely taught as accepted science for decades. It is presented as universally accepted by scientists and scholars. The reality is there is a large contingent of scientific experts who disagree with the theory. The science on this is anything but ‘settled’, as many would have us believe.

There are numerous scientific holes and flaws in the theory, but this article will look at the danger of this theory from a different perspective. This perspective is significantly important to Christians as it examines the impact on the message of the gospel.

At the core of all Christian belief is Christ. Who He is and what He did is the foundation of all that we believe. It is at the center of the entire story of the Bible; everything else in the Bible points to and/or is built upon Christ. So, how does the theory of evolution impact the message of the gospel?

First, let’s examine what Christ did for us and why. Consider this a basic outline of the gospel message. We are all sinners; “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;” – Romans 3:23. Sin brings death to us all; “For the wages of sin is death” – Romans 6:23a. The only hope we have to escape this penalty of death is Christ; “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus” and “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” – Romans 6:23b and John 14:6.

So, we are all sinners, having a broken relationship with God which results in death and the only answer, the only hope for this is Christ. Without Him we experience death. The Bible makes it clear that this ‘death’ is not just a ‘spiritual death’ but ‘physical death’ as well. In other words, if sin had not entered the world through humankind’s disobedience, we would not know physical death as well as spiritual death. In Genesis 2:17, along with Genesis chapter 3 we see that the result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience was that death entered the world. Before this, there was no death, of anything, period.

Where does the theory of evolution come into this? Death. A primary component of the theory of evolution is death and reproduction over many generations. Things mutate and adapt, even cross-species, evolving over many cycles of birth, life and death. But if death came into the world through man’s disobedience, how could things evolve in this manner? If death is a necessity of evolution how could death have entered the world by the disobedience of an already evolved creature known as humans?

For the Christian this really breaks down when we consider the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ – that which is absolutely essential to our Christian gospel. In order to accept the theory of evolution we must discard the idea that death is a result of sin, which the Bible clearly teaches. If death is not the result of sin, then how is Jesus delivering us from death unto life? If Jesus is not delivering us from death unto life, then why did He die (take on death to pay for our sin and give us life)?

The theory of evolution dilutes and makes of no value the sacrifice of Jesus. But some may say, “Jesus did not die to address our physical life, only our spiritual. We still die physically” 1 Corinthians 15 says differently. Jesus rose from the dead physically. Paul teaches us that we too shall rise from the dead and we will take on new bodies in His presence.

The problem with the theory of evolution for Christians is not just the scientific holes in the theory but the breaking down of the gospel truth that gives us our only hope.

Most of us are familiar with the following scripture.

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil.

It is commonly known as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’.

It is actually in response to the disciples asking Jesus to teach them how to pray. The disciples had seen the results of Jesus’ prayers, so it would seem natural for them to want to be taught how to pray by Him.

Jesus wasn’t just teaching them a prayer to memorize and repeat but He was teaching them what prayer was really about. For example, look how His lesson starts. The very first thing is to recognize just who God is – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Before we ask for things we need to recognize and acknowledge who it is we are talking to and who we are. This first statement by Jesus makes it clear that the Father is holy, He is above all and our attitude toward Him should reflect as much.

Actually, the first two items in Jesus’ instruction on prayer are declarations rather than asks. They represent 1) our recognition of God’s position, especially in relation to ours and 2) our need to surrender to His will above ours.

He follows this up with our requests and daily needs, addressing forgiveness in our lives and protection from evil and temptation. These are the asks and in them there is indeed great importance. But what we learn from the specific order of things is that our declarations about God need to precede our asking of Him. This is the appropriate order as God is the priority. But it’s even more than that. As we recognize and acknowledge exactly who God is our confidence is increased. When we realize just who it is we are asking and we acknowledge such we can have confidence in what we ask. When we acknowledge God’s sovereignty and greatness it also helps us align what we ask for so that it lines up more with God’s desire for our lives.

Many in our Christianity hold to a form of universalism or pluralism, whether it be intellectual or practical.

Intellectually, this view consciously thinks there are multiple paths to God while practically it is often practiced in many Christian’s lives. Most of the time this is an emotional decision because we don’t like to think about the reality of man’s predicament, but yet we don’t want to do anything about that predicament either.

What about innocent people, you know, the ones who never heard?

What happens to the innocent man in the middle of Africa who has never heard of Jesus? Does he go to heaven? To really answer this question we must look at some absolute truths. And where do we turn to find these truths – the Bible.

Everyone has knowledge of God – “what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them… so that people are without excuse.” Rom 1:19,20

Everyone has rejected God – “people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness…For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…They exchanged the truth about God for a lie” Rom 1:18,21,25

Therefore everyone is guilty – “God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.” Rom 2:2

Everyone, because of this guilt is condemned – to death – “for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” Rom 2:8

God has provided a solution  – it is Jesus Christ and it is a universal solution – “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Rom 3:21-22

All are justified freely by His grace – “all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Rom 3:23

There is no other way to God except through Jesus Christ – “No one comes to the Father except by me” John 14:6

So, what happens to the innocent man in the middle of Africa who has never heard of Jesus? Does he go to heaven?

Answer – he doesn’t exist

“There is no one righteous”

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.” Rom 3:10-12

Some may feel and argue God is not fair for allowing people who have never heard of Jesus to go to hell. In part 2 we will take a look at this very point

I’ve never fully understood or I suppose appreciated the fascination with Halloween. Even as a kid I never really got excited about this ‘holiday’. Oh, I get the fun in dressing up as some make-believe character and I certainly understand the allure of free candy. I can even appreciate the fun of the Halloween decorations.

There’s something about getting scared. There’s a thrill that comes with getting scared, especially when deep down you know there’s no real danger. We like scary things when we know they can’t really hurt us.

Having said that I can understand the Halloween hoopla can be fun. But it seems this ‘holiday’ grows in magnitude every year, rivaling Christmas and passing most of the other ‘holidays’ through the year.

What is it with this day and why do I care?

It’s not a Holiday

Halloween (as we celebrate and recognize it) is not a holiday. The word holiday is derived from the two words ‘holy day’. Halloween is anything but a holy day. Granted, many of our ‘holidays’ we celebrate are not holy days; examples, Labor Day, Presidents Day, Mothers Day and Fathers Day, even Independence Day. Factually, only Christmas, Easter and Good Friday are really holy days. But there are others that have a much closer connection to our relationship with God, such as Thanksgiving and Memorial Day than Halloween. In reality, just about every other day we celebrate as a holiday have more to with God than Halloween. Now before you say, “Halloween is ‘All Hallows Eve, with its origins in the church, let me ask if any of you celebrate it in that context (or even think of that in connection with Halloween).

But that’s not really what bothers me. This growing fascination with witches, skeletons, the dead, vampires and many other scary things associated with evil can become unhealthy – it may already be unhealthy.

I realize that all but an extremely small percentage of people, outliers, celebrate Halloween as nothing more than a fun day to dress up and play with things that “scare” us (and of course the free candy). There is a very small percentage of outliers that really do celebrate the things associated with evil and even the evil one himself in some cases. But that’s not what concerns me. There is the fringe, the outliers, in all we do in society. Focusing on them is tantamount to worrying about the “magic” in stories like Snow White and Cinderella and even Santa Claus.

The theme of this day, Halloween, is dedicated to the demonic. Witches and celebrating the dead are strongly spoken against by God. Vampires are demonic and represent the height self-serving violence. Read the actual history of vampires and Count Dracula and you will be appalled. Ghosts are souls that remain here are their death. This stands in direct contradiction to God’s design. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Hebrews 9:27 For the Christian, “To be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46

Obviously people, with few exceptions, dressing up at Halloween and decorating their house with “spooky” things are not thinking about the demonic and evil associated with these things. The problem however, is that we never take the time to teach and explain about this evil. God is very clear about His people not practicing magic. He speaks strongly against the celebration of the dead and fascination of the dead. God is very clear what happens to those who die; “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46

God is very clear about these things but we as Christians are not. You would be amazed how many people in the church really believe in actual ghosts! The truth regarding these things need to be clearly taught. The truth of what God has to say about these things need to be taught and understood – to children and adults alike. Obviously it needs to be taught in an age appropriate manner. It needs to be known that these are all associated with evil, sin and the rejection of God.

We don’t need to throw away the make-believe, but we need to do much more to make it completely clear what the make-believe is and what the real is. There are those who really practice witchcraft. There are those who really love the beliefs of vampirism; the lust for power at all costs. There are those who really do celebrate and even worship the dead and look to them for guidance and wisdom. There are those who believe the souls of people are stuck here after death for a various reasons. This is a denial of who Jesus is.

There is also a God who has real power, not magic. There are spirit beings, both good and evil. There is a destiny for all souls after death; heaven for the righteous and eternal punishment for the unbeliever.

The continued growth of Halloween may indicate an unhealthy infatuation with things God commands us to stay away from. At a minimum it may indicate a blurring of the lines. Satan uses these things to pollute our minds and at a minimum dilute our understanding of the truth. We should make use of the opportunity to teach what makes such things evil and what God says about them. We can keep the make-believe if we want to, but lets make it clear to distinguish what is make-believe and what is real.

If you’d like to know more or have questions you can contact me by email at kandmraney@gmail.com

For centuries people have predicted the world is ending soon – religious and non-religious alike. They have a myriad of reasons for their predictions. And by the way, they’ve all been wrong. I suppose if you predict it enough times, eventually someone will accidently end up right.

This time it is the climate doom group. Evidently, the world is going to end in something like 12 years (granted, they’ve hedged their bets by saying, “if we don’t implement drastic changes.”)

The actions of man will not determine or even affect the end of the world. Multiple places in the Bible God has said that no one knows the time which the end will be. 

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Matthew 24:35-36

Scientists are not unanimous about climate change. That is simply a lie.

But if you listen to certain politicians and activists, they evidently have some inside scoop. We’ve heard from multiple political figures lately that the world is going to end in something like 12 years. The cause? Man-made climate change.

We hear that scientists are unanimous in the prediction that the world will come to and end or be unlivable in short time due to man-made climate change. Another version says 97% of scientists agree. These are absolute lies. The truth? When asked in a survey 97% of scientists agreed that the climate changes and that man can have some effect on the climate. Guess what? No one disagrees with that. Christians, both those that are scientists and those that are not, agree that man should be good stewards of the world that God has given us. 

The wicked, the secularist, the humanist deny God’s sovereignty over this world because they reject God altogether. Man will not decide or even know when the world will end. God has established the times and the seasons, including the end of this world; it will be so. The world will end when Jesus returns for His church and that day, the day of the Lord, is determined by God. It is not for us to know or even be anxious about. 

It is the height of hubris by the wicked to think man is the determining factor. The wicked delight in elevating themselves to the height of gods. But they will be cast down in their arrogance.

Don’t listen to the lies of such people. Reject these lies and hear and believe the truth of God.

Is the church required to love and accept everyone? This is a difficult topic that the modern church is sadly getting wrong.

Not long ago, some people I was with had a conversation about a gay individual they all knew. All of these people were Christians, active in their churches. One of the people shared that the gay individual had told them he was accepted in the gay community, but not in the church community. This troubled all of them and initially, it troubled me. But then it got me thinking.

What do we mean by acceptance? For years I have heard the phrase, “hate the sin, love the sinner.” Is this over-simplistic? What does this look like in practice?

First, there is the truth of john 3:16, that God loved the world so much He sent His Son to redeem it with His own life – while we were still sinners. What an attitude of mercy and grace! Lets look at this a little closer though. Yes, God loved us while we were sinners. But Jesus came to this world to redeem us. We were lost, separated from Him because of our sin. God could not accept us as we were. If he could have accepted us the way we were Jesus would not have needed to die. He couldn’t just accept us with our sin and let us into His kingdom. So God loved us but He did not accept us.

Revelation 21 tells us about the eternal home of the saints, the Holy City of Jerusalem. In verse 27 we read, “Nothing impure (unclean in the English Standard Version) will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” God does not accept the unclean, the impure, those who do what is shameful or deceitful in His kingdom.

So, what about this gay individual, or anyone living in sin, do we just not accept them in our church? To answer this we must clarify two things 1) what we mean by accept and 2) what we mean by church.

Lets look at the second one first, the church. The church is not some building or even some group of people that meet in some building we call a church. The church is the Body of Christ. The only way to become a part of the Body of Christ is through the forgiveness and cleansing of Christ. One can certainly be a ‘member of a local church’ and not be a member of the Body of Christ.

Secondly, what do we mean by accept? Do we just not have anything to do with the unbelievers living in sin? Well, that would be contrary to Jesus’ example now wouldn’t it? But then on the other hand the Bible says in multiple places we should be separate from them. For example, 2 Corinthians 6:17 says, “Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.” Paul, even went one further when he instructed the Corinthian church to remove from their fellowship a man who was participating in a sexual perversion (1 Corinthians 5). So, how do we reconcile the example and teaching of Jesus with the instructions to be separate?

We can answer this by taking a closer look at Jesus’ example. Jesus did indeed spend time with the unrepentant sinner, the unbeliever. However, He always did so with the intent of redeeming them. He loved them as sinners but He did not accept them as sinners. There’s an old hymn, “Just as I Am.” We love to sing it as an invitation to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior. The song tells us that we can come to God just the way we are. We need not clean up or set anything in order first. We don’t have to rid ourselves of nasty habits or practices, even vices before we come to him for forgiveness and cleansing. But that’s just it isn’t it? We come to Him filthy, so that He might make us clean (because try as we might, we are unable to do it ourselves). God may be fine with us coming to Him exactly the way we are, but He is not ok with us staying that way. From the moment He comes in to our heart as Lord and Savior He is cleansing us from all our sin.

So, God reaches out to us while filthy sinners, but He doesn’t accept us staying that way. The church is to be no different. We can and should love sinners, unbelievers; love them enough to reach out to them and tell them the truth. Remember what Jesus said to the woman caught in the act of adultery? He told her TWO things; 1) that He did not condemn her (He forgave her) 2) He then said, “go and sin no more”. To the woman at the well He directly confronted her sinful lifestyle (multiple husbands and now living with one that isn’t her husband) before she found forgiveness upon her confession to Him.

We can love the sinner, but we cannot be ok with their sinful life. We can be friends with them, be kind and caring, but we cannot ignore their sin as if it is ok. As a matter of fact, if we do not tell them the truth of their sin, we show that we really do not love them. They are certainly welcome to attend church gatherings, but they cannot be a part of the church because it is the Body of Christ. They can attend but they cannot influence, cannot partake. This is not simply some kind of rule, it is logic and reason. Being a sinner means you still reject the salvation of Jesus Christ. You cannot partake of something of which you are not a part and you cannot be a part of something which you willingly reject.