Christianity and Christian Beliefs - Bible Study and Correct Interpretation of Scripture

A Christian is loving and forgiving who practices turning the other cheek, for this is the way of Christ. Jesus came to set an example for us to follow that would enable us, if we followed his example, to find a peace that surpasses all understanding.
A Christian uses prayer to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit on situations that may not be covered in the Bible, or to seek greater clarification on Bible Scriptures. A Christian uses Bible Study to examines his own interpretation of Bible Scripture. A Christian is not perfect, but is using the correct interpretation of Christianity and its true purpose to become perfected. Most Christians will have witnessed other Christians falling short of the mark and this is because Christians are in the process of becoming perfected, are in the process of learning how to remove the beam from their own eye, of mis-perceiving their fellow brother and sisters worth, instead of seeing the beam, the fault in their fellow brethren and judging them harshly through the eyes of the ego, the separated self.
The Christian Bible Scriptures reflect Christian beliefs, yet there are many scriptures in the Bible that some Christians struggle with their meaning, and even particular phrases or words. Phrases such as 'the key of knowledge', 'let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus', 'ye are all Gods', 'let the dead bury their dead'. Clearly if these phrases were taken in a literal sense, then we would say there is a key that has knowledge, and what is this key? We would say we must take Jesus' own mind and put it in our head, but how? We would say I am a God and so is everyone else. And we would say a man who has died can pick up a shovel, dig a hole in the ground, and bury another corpse that has died. These four phrases are only a small sample of a much larger number of Bible scriptures that, if taken in a literal sense, would cause confusion.
In the Bible it says "God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth". If we take the four phrases above, we would say: "Are these meant to be interpreted in a literal sense, or are we meant to be searching for the Spirit of Truth in the scripture?" If a Christian chooses to interpret the Bible purely in a literal sense then he or she will hit a brick wall when searching for the Spirit of Truth - namely they will not be able to explain in a logical way how a dead man can bury another dead man, for example. If a Christian searches for the Spirit of Truth by connecting to the Holy Spirit within to seek clarification of the Scripture, then this will pose a new set of potential problems.
The first problem is that the person's own mind may be filled with impurities and fears and any message they receive from the Holy Spirit may be filtered through their own fears, causing them to receive the message from the Holy Spirit in a fearful light, causing them to place a fearful meaning or interpretation on the Bible Scripture. The second problem is that every Christian has a very uniquely different mind and set of biases, and when connecting to the Holy Spirit and applying their own set of biases to the message received, will offer a very different interpretation of the Scripture.
Many Christians are afraid to have an interpretation of a Bible Scripture that differs from their other church members. If an individual Church is dominated by this fear or lack of tolerance of individual interpretation of the Scripture through connecting to the Holy Spirit, then this will cause the Church to say that the Bible Scripture should either a) be taken literally at all times, which encourages its members to not look for the Spirit of Truth via the Holy Spirit or b) to only ever seek interpretation of the Bible Scriptures from the elders of the Church, which encourages its members to not seek the Kingdom of God, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, from within.
Some Christian Churches actively encourage their members to connect to the Holy Spirit for individual interpretation of the Bible Scriptures to look for the Spirit of Truth. Other Christian Churches fear this process, because they fear opposing interpretation of the Scriptures, they fear losing control of what their church members think and believe. They fear losing control of their church members.
Jesus message was simple. He wished to set us free from fear and bondage. His promise was we can do what he can do and more, however we cannot do this if we do not follow His example. Jesus was not a follower of other men, he was not a respecter of persons, he was not a respecter of man-made churches (the Jewish church at the time) that put fear of God in the hearts of men, that sought to control its church members through fear and control. Jesus did not belong to any man-made church in order to connect to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Kingdom of God within.
A Christian Church can be used for fellowship, for spiritual guidance, for help with interpretation of Bible Scripture, for Bible study, however it should never serve as a replacement for a Christian becoming its own spiritual master, as Jesus did, and finding its own Truth, its own Kingdom of God within.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6337396

Can You Be a Christian and Believe in Other Religions?

There is only one God in this world (1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6). God is in the form of trinity which includes the Father God, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. There are many people who profess themselves as Christians but they also believe in other gods. If you profess yourself as a Christian and worship other gods as well, you will not inherit the eternal life. In Exodus 20:4 - 6, God forbids the people from making, worshiping and bowing down to idols that resemble anything in heaven or on earth. The idols are man-made. They cannot speak, see, hear, feel and walk (Psalms 115:4 - 8).
After accepting Jesus, you must get rid of the idols you used to worship in your house such as statues, charms, and paintings of pagan gods. Christians cannot visit pagan temples. It is a sin to bow down to the idol even if you don't believe in it. If you have visited temples and took photos of them, you should get rid of them. Any object that you used in worshiping pagan gods must be removed. If you want to inherit eternal life, you must dedicate yourself to God only. You must obey his words and do his commandments. You should avoid following the tradition that you used to follow in your old religion. This includes festival, rituals and other types of practices.
You must not devote yourself to anything other than God. For example, if you love money more than God, you are committing the sin of idolatry because you put money as your priority. Christians must put God as priority in their lives. You should avoid wearing beads, crystals and etc that have connection with other religions. You must not practice witchcraft. All witches and sorcerers will end up in Hell.
Many Christians read the horoscopes to find out what they should do. Christians must not look at horoscope to predict their future. Your future is in God's hand. Christians should submit every aspect of their life to God and let him take in charge of the future. You cannot use decor items that are derived from the culture of pagan religion in your homes. You must not eat food that are offered to the pagan gods. 1 Corinthians 10:18 - 22 states that we should not be participant of the demons by eating food offered to demons because it will arouse the jealousy of God.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6975660

Concerning the Birth of Jesus

Since the time of Jesus, much has been said and misunderstood concerning his birth. I have done a fair amount of research related to his birth. While I cannot swear that what I am about to tell you is exactly correct in every detail with regard to the events that took place so many years ago, I will tell you that, based on what I have learned, I believe with all my heart that what I am about to tell you is the truth.

• Late in the night on May 19th of 3 BCE, while Zechariah, the husband of Mary's relative Elizabeth, was performing his priestly duties during the Abijah course, the planet Mercury, the messenger star, came into conjunction with the planet Saturn in the constellation Taurus. At that time, Zechariah's wife Elizabeth, who believed that she was barren and far too old to have a child, was in fact about five months pregnant.


• Upon hearing the news of Elizabeth's pregnancy, Mary went to visit Elizabeth on June 12th of that year. That event was heralded in the heavens by the conjunction of Saturn and Venus that same evening in the constellation Taurus. Mary would remain with Elizabeth for three more months.


• On August 12th of that same year, while Mary was staying with Elizabeth, Jesus was conceived. That event was heralded in the heavens by the extremely close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus on the morning of that day in the constellation Virgo. The two planets appeared to have fused together and become, what astronomers and many others throughout the region perceived, a single star glowing unusually brightly in the morning sky. It is for this reason that Jesus is called "the Morning Star".


• Two and a half weeks later, on August 31st, Mary became aware for the first time that she, like her relative Elizabeth, was with child. That event was heralded in the heavens by the conjunction of Mercury and Venus late that night.


• A decree went out from Rome at about that time that all Roman subjects must swear an oath of allegiance to Augustus Caesar and renounce their former allegiances. This was done in preparation for the granting of the title Pater Patriae to Caesar Augustus, which was to take place on February 5th, 2 BCE.


• Early in the morning of September 14th, the fourth day after the Jewish new year, during the period known as the Ten Days of Repentance, Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist. That event was heralded by the first of three conjunctions of Jupiter with the star Regulus in the constellation Leo. The planet Jupiter, known to the Jews as Tzedek or Righteousness, would eventually come into conjunction with the star Regulus two more times, and, in the process, effectively trace out a crown or halo above the star. The 14th of September was in fact the Shabbat known as Shuvah, which means "Return!". Note that Shabbat Shuvah is the Shabbat that precedes Yom Kippur, known as the "Shabbat of Shabbats" and the "Day of Atonement".


• The planet Jupiter came into conjunction a second time with the star Regulus on February 17th, 2 BCE. That took place on the Jewish holiday of Purim. The Purim holiday celebrates the deliverance of the Jews from a plot to kill them.


• On or about the time of John the Baptist's birth, Mary and her husband Joseph traveled to Bethlehem in order to comply with the decree issued from Rome. Soon after they arrived, they realized that Mary was too far along in her pregnancy to travel again, so she and Joseph decided to remain in Bethlehem until Jesus was finally born. In the evening hours of May 8th, 2 BCE (corresponding to Sivan 6 in the Hebrew calendar), 38 weeks after Jesus was conceived, the planet Jupiter passed by the star Regulus for the third and final time, heralding the day of Jesus' birth. May 8th of 2 BCE was in fact the Hebrew holiday known as Shavuot, which celebrated the day that God gave the Torah to the Israelites. Shavuot also commemorates the harvesting of the wheat in the land of Israel; it was a day when farmers would bring Bikkurim (first fruits) to the Temple. Note also that, according to tradition, King David was born and died on Shavuot, and passages from the Book of Ruth, one of his descendants, are traditionally read that day.


• On June 17th, exactly forty days after the birth of Jesus, Mary presented her son at the Temple in Jerusalem. That event was heralded by the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the late evening hours of that day. In the Hebrew calendar, the following day commemorates the destruction of the twin tablets given by God to Moses forty days after Moses ascended Mount Sinai. Eventually that day would also commemorate the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem just prior to the destruction of the Second Temple.


• On August 25th and 26th (corresponding to Elul 25-27, 3759 in the Hebrew calendar), ten weeks after the presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the Tuesday before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, Venus, the Sun, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter all were in conjunction in the constellation Leo. Elul 25th was said to be the date the World was created.


• On December 25th, 2 BCE, around the time of the winter solstice, magi traveling down the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem observed the planet Jupiter directly above the town in the distance. They had been told that they would find the child they had been searching for in that town. Being astronomers and men of science, they also knew that the planet Jupiter had in fact finally stopped moving Westward and, having come to a rest, would soon be moving Eastward. It was the movements of the planet Jupiter that had captured the attention of the magi and that the magi had been watching with great interest over the past two years. And the fact that Jupiter had actually come to rest in what would have been the womb of the constellation Virgo (the virgin) made the significance of their observation that much clearer.

I am also convinced of the following:

• That on January 10th 1 BCE, there was a full lunar eclipse. That was the eclipse reported by Josephus that preceded the death of Herod.


• That the original Greek text of Luke 2:2 does not say that Quirinius was governor of the Roman province of Syria at the time of the enrollment; the original text effectively indicates that he was administering his official duties with regard to the 3 BCE enrollment from Syria. In 6 CE, Quirinius would eventually oversee a second enrollment to facilitate the taxation of the newly formed Roman province of Judaea; however, prior to 6 CE, Judea was a client kingdom ruled by Herod and his sons.


• That the triple conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the constellation Pisces in 7 BCE, along with the other celestial events of that time, heralded the Age of Pisces. It was believed that a similar triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred approximately 3 years before the birth of Moses and that a similar triple conjunction would occur 3 years before the arrival of the Messiah; ending in December of 7 BCE, the conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter fulfilled that prophesy.


• That the Sun is a symbol of God's glory, and the light it radiates represents revealed truth. The Earth represents humanity, and the Earth continually turns its face from the Sun as it prefers darkness. The Moon is the obedient son who reflects the light of the Father. And after nearly 30 days, the Moon began to grow bright with the light of the Sun. But the Earth moved quickly to extinguish the light and return the Earth to darkness. The Earth, however, must eventually face the Sun, and, in the brilliant light of the Sun, all will be revealed.

While there may be many who will be quick to deny what I have just stated, it is my sincere hope that, in reading the foregoing, you, like a magi traveling down the road to Bethlehem, will ultimately come to be blessed with great wisdom.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6749081

Was Christ Really Born on 25th of December?

Was Christ really born on 25th of December? What does the Holy Bible say on Christ's birth? What does pagan customs and traditions has to do with the celebration of birthday of Christ? Read on... here are the interesting facts dug out from the pages of ancient history.

Let history say whatever it has to say. But one thing is true. Jesus Christ was born. Doesn't mind the date and time. This article is only written from the point of academic interest. Treat it thus and correct me if I am wrong.

***

The Birth of Christ

"... behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people. For unto you is born this day... a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2: 10 & 11.

Its indeed good news that Christ the Lord, "... died for our sins... and buried; and rose again on the third day... " I Corinthians 15: 3 & 4. So that whosoever believeth on Him should have everlasting life... " John 3: 36.

What isn't good news is that the way the Christmas - supposed to be birthday of Lord Jesus Christ - is being celebrated. It has become a ritualistic festival with many pagan (non-Christian) customs being observed as a tradition on that day, thereby diluting the very essence of Christ's birth and His mission on this earth. I Peter 2: 24; Colossians 1: 14; and Isaiah 53: 5 & 6.

Even the ardent believer whose faith in the Word of God is unshakable seems to have fallen victim to the ritualistic celebrations, which is indeed abhorrence to Lord God.

For Christmas does not mean the birth of Christ. The word is made up of Christ + Mass which means Christ's Mass. The Mass is a much-sanctified religious service of the Roman Catholic Church, the performance of the sacrament of the Eucharist, i.e. ceremony performing Lord's Supper. And Mass is a Latin Word meaning dismiss.

Further, there is no precedence in the Bible where Christ's birth was celebrated. But the Lord did ask His people to remember His death. Luke 22: 19 & 20; and I Corinthians 11: 24 to 26.

No one can dispute the fact about Christ's birth. But it was definitely not on 25th December as believed by Christians throughout the world.

The Possible Scriptural Evidence

There is possible evidence to believe that Christ was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, which falls in the intervening months of September\October. Of course, one only has to study the Scriptures diligently and relate all the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus Christ and place all the feasts of the Lord in proper perspective in relationship to the Savior, (like Passover is related to His crucifixion and First fruits to His resurrection etc.) and interpret it correctly in the light of the Gospels.

Well, as of December and 25th; it is written in Luke 2: 8 to 11 that... shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night were told by the Angels of the Lord about Christ's birth. But this incident couldn't have happened in December. In Judea, at that time December was cold and at that a rainy season, which is most unlikely that shepherds were out in the field by night.

Also in verse 1 of the same chapter Luke says, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that the entire world should be taxed or registered for census purposes; and in subsequent verses 3 to 6, "all went to be taxed... Joseph also went up... to be taxed with Mary. This incident also cannot be traced to the month of December because middle of the winter was not fitting for such a business, especially for women with child, and children to travel in those days.

Even Christ has warned his disciples. "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter." Mathew 24: 20. If winter was so bad (like hell) even to flee, then it was certainly not fit time for shepherds to be in the fields nor for women and children to travel.

Thus in the light of this argument we could well say, that Christ's birth and the occurrences of the events in Luke Chapter 2, could not have taken place during winter or more precisely in the month of December as was believed by Christians throughout the world.

Then how come December 25th has come into wide acceptance as the day of the birth of Christ?

The Significance of December 25th

To get at the root of this, one should go back to the ancient times and have a look at their customs and traditions that has unique relationship with the day of 25th December.

* December 25th was the day on which was celebrated the accouchement of the Queen of Heaven, the celestial Virgin, and the birth of her child, the sun-god.

* The Savior of Greeks, Bacchus or Dionysus was born of a Virgin on the 25th of December.

* So was Hercules. Isis, the Egyptians' Virgin Queen of Heaven delivered the child called Horus towards the end of December [probably 25th December].

* The Egyptians apart from worshiping the Virgin Mother, they also to the congregation exhibited the effigy of her babe lying in a manger, a custom that is very much in practice even today in churches and homes throughout the Christian world.

* In Rome, the day of winter solstice December 25th was celebrated as the birthday of the unconquered Sun; and it was the birthday of Mithra, the Persian sun-god, whose worship spread far and wide in the Roman Empire.

* Even in Hinduism, from time immemorial and to this day, Sun is worshiped as God. Yet Hinduism did not influence in fixing the Birth of Christ like other customs of the nations across Europe and West Asia did.

* In Rome, there was another festival called Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of seed-time and harvest. This festival was celebrated with much gaiety and revelry for a week-long period during the end of December at winter solstice. It was just a kind of Christmas.

* The ancient Germans, Britons and Saxons burnt the Yule (Yule is the Chaldea name for an 'infant' or 'little child') log and banqueted at the winter solstice. Their bonfire symbolically represented the sun god's regeneration as he returned from his winter-home. Thus Christians of that time thought it fit to celebrate the birth of Christ on that day as burning of Yule log supposed to represent the Light of life.

* During the reign of Constantine the Emperor of Rome, the Church at Rome under Bishop Liberius, around 320 A D or 354 A D assigned and fixed December 25th as the day of celebration of Christmas.

December 25th was Fixed as Christ's Birthday

Thus by the end of the 4th century the whole of the Christian world was celebrating Christmas on 25th of December.

This is how the day of Mithraic feast of sun god; festival of Saturnalia; and the Yuletide feast; including the veneration of the Queen of Heaven followed by celebration in Egypt, Greek and other parts of the world under Roman Empire strongly influenced the day of Christ's birth, which came to be the 25th of December.

But not all fell in line and upright men like Tertullian (230 A D) protested and lamented. They blamed the Disciples of Christ in this respect and demanded they keep themselves away from world's idolatrous corruption. They couldn't stem the tide and gradually the church was submerged under pagan superstition.

John Chrysostom, an Antioch born zealous pastor and archbishop of Constantinople writing in Antioch about 380 A D says, "The birth of our Lord was unknown on the very borders of the Holy Land where He was born; but was made known in all the European regions of the west, from Thrace even to Spain... "

It is quite clear from the above statement that in those days itself the birth of Christ was unknown in a land where He was born.

Finally December 25th was Accepted as Christ's Birthday

By the turn of the 4th century, Christians began defending the celebration of Christmas on 25th December on the ground that it got an opportunity to turn the people away from pagan traditions to that of worshiping the Christ as Lord God and Savior.

To this effect, there went out an official decree to all to observe the festival of Christmas on 25th of December, for it gave them, they believed, a chance to put Jesus Christ, the "Sun of Righteousness" ( Malachi 4: 2 ) in peoples' hearts in place of the sun god Mithra. Yes, David also proclaimed in his Psalms 84:11 as "For the LORD God is a sun and shield... "

Thus, gradually by the year 450 A D and to this day, the 25th of December came to be observed as Christmas, the birth of Christ, throughout the Christian world.

When Was Jesus Really Born?

I'm a Christian. I've been a Christian all my life. I pretty much believe everything I read in the bible... especially the New Testament. Someone once told me that Christ wasn't really born on December 25, that we celebrate his birth on that day because of tradition. You know what? He was right!

Of course, it really doesn't make any difference in my love for Jesus. But it is nice to be able to separate the facts from the traditions. The fact is... the exact time of Christ's birth was never recorded in the bible. Only that He was born in a manger in Bethlehem.

But was it in December? I kind of doubt it. December's in Bethlehem are cold. Joseph and were going to Bethlehem to pay their taxes when the 'Son of God' was born. Roman leaders were very good administrators. I doubt that they'd pick one of the coldest months of the year for people to pay their taxes. After all, people had to walk to get to the tax collectors. I'm sure the administrators wanted to make it as easy as they could to collect taxes.

There's another thing that makes me think Jesus wasn't born in December. The bible says that angels appeared to shepherds watching over their flocks on the night Jesus was born. Shepherds would never have had their flocks out at night in the dead of winter.

So, why do we celebrate December 25 as the Christ's birthday? To start with, the early church didn't celebrate Christ's birthday at all. It wasn't until 336 A.D. that Christmas came about. That was the date the Roman emperor Constantine decided to convert a pagan holiday into the 'Christian' holiday called, Christmas. Even that date is in question with many scholars believing that the Roman holiday wasn't officially called 'Christmas' until the early 500s.

What isn't questionable though is that December 25th had long been celebrated as the festival that marked the winter solstice, the return of the sun, and honored Saturn, the god of sowing.

So, when was Christ born? Most likely in the fall. Luke, in the New Testament says that the Romans required a census and taxation to take place after the fall harvest, during the Autumn. Which makes a lot of sense as travel would be much more difficult later in the year.

Does it really make any difference when Jesus was born? Not to me. This is one of those things that the bible doesn't mention. We can deduce the general time though by looking at the things that were happening around him. It's easier to say why it wasn't December 25th, than to narrow down an exact month. For me... sometime in the Autumn is close enough. I'm fine going along with the crowd in using December 25th to celebrate his birth. It may not the correct day, but it will do until He returns again and sets us straight.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9163309

The Birth of Christ

As much as I love them, Christmas songs and Nativity decorations have it all wrong when it comes to the story of Jesus' birth. They have Him being born in December, under a bright star that lead the wise men right to manger. In actuality, He was most likely not born in December but during the warmer months of the year. There were shepherds in the fields tending their flocks on the night that Jesus was born. Shepherds most likely brought their flocks into corals during the coldest winter months. Another reason to believe that the birth of Jesus was not in the winter is because of the census that Caesar Augustus is recording as having taken in Luke 2: 1. Since the census required mass migration of large numbers of the population, it seems much more likely that it would have been taken during the warmer months to make it somewhat easier for the those who had to travel great distances.

Another misconception put forth in our songs and decorations has to do with the star that appeared at Jesus' birth and with the wise men that came to worship Him. Contrary to the way Nativity Decorations would present it, the wise men were not present at the manger after Jesus was born. There were shepherds present soon after the birth of Christ, but there were no wise men. The wise men came later; perhaps, even up to two years later (based upon the decree that Caesar Augustus issued to slaughter all of the male children two years old and under). Also, the Scriptures do not state that the star shown down on the stable the night that Jesus was born; it records that the star was for the purpose of leading the wise men to Jesus. The wise men began their journey when the star first appeared to them, at Jesus' birth and traveled until they found Him.

The Bible states that they were from the East; that was most likely Persia or Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). This means that, at the very least, they had to travel 500 miles to get to Jesus (and some of us won't even travel 2 miles to church!). It has been estimated that, at the very minimum, it would have taken them about 25 days to reach Jesus; it could have taken them much longer to make the trip, depending upon their circumstances. The wise men "saw His star" (a star that not all saw, apparently, nor could all understand) and traveled to Jesus' house to pay Him honor and bring Him gifts. Matthew 2: 11 states that the wise men came "into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother".

Also, contrary to belief, scripture does not record that there were three wise men but three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. The gold was to acknowledge Jesus as King, the frankincense was used by Priests and signified His position as such and the myrrh was used in burial preparations and thus was to acknowledge His death on our behalf. It could be that each man brought Jesus some of each. We only know from Scripture that there were more than one man (it says men)--that could mean two or ten or even twenty!

In the end, what matters is that we love and honor God and His Word. In our enthusiasm to celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us remember that we much accept the truth of the scriptures as absolute and not set forth as truth something that the scriptures are silent on. There are many assumptions that we have to make in order to "fill in" the story of Jesus' birth; let's just be careful that we not get too confused.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1757788

Christians and Sex - 5 Mistakes Christian Couples Make While Intimate

Christian couples make a lot of mistakes while having sex. Intimacy can be so much greater if you avoid the following 5 mistakes regarding Christians and sex.

1. "Sex should be very brief". This is a very common mistake regarding Christian sex. It's the idea that intimacy should never last beyond 30 minutes or an hour. And once it's done, then that's it. It stems from the notion that sex is only a "desert" and you shouldn't over indulge. This makes Christian sex feel very cheap and insignificant. Intimacy among Christians should be viewed more as a main course with numerous second helpings to follow. It is a beautiful and very significant gift from God and it should be celebrated to it's fullest, not limited to side dishes with stringent time frames to consume.
2. "We shouldn't do this position". There is a notion out there that certain positions are sinful and shouldn't be practiced. The only issue with sexual postions are whether or not they are safe and comfortable for each couple. If both are in agreement and no unhealthy or unsafe issues are present, then certain positions shouldn't be excluded from practicing intimacy.
3. "Premature ejaculation is OK". Many Christian women will simply accept that their husband's premature ejaculation problem is normal and should not be addressed. And the men are sometimes too embarrassed to admit it is going on. Meanwhile the wife is not receiving any sexual satisfaction. You can see the problem here. It is up to the male to learn ways to last as long as he can in order to sexually satisfy his wife. If he is prone to ejaculating too early, as many men are, he should take steps to prevent this problem from occurring.
4. "Oral sex should be avoided". This is another sinful act in the minds of some Christians. Again, we should acknowledge that as long as the act does not cause harm and is agreeable with both, then this is a strong step towards it being acceptable. Bible verse doesn't specifically ward off oral acts between two loving and married Christian couples. Some will interperet certain verses as they will and in the end it's up to the couple to do their own due diligence on the matter. But if oral sex provides a sexually satisfying bond between couples, is agreeable and safe, then it should be considered an option for intimacy.
5. "We do the same sexual routine every time we have sex and this works for us." Here is one of the biggest mistakes Christians who do have sex on a regular basis can make. This is a recipe for boring, and even though it may seem satisfactory in the present, eventually the lack of experimentation and intimate variety will catch up and sex will seem dull. It's always good to learn new things, switch it up, include Christian safe sex toys into your intimacy, and vary positions in order to ensure that you are having an exciting sex life for years to come.

Here is an excellent way to switch up your sexual routines and learn how to have the best Christian sex possible - http://Christian-Intimacy.info

When Was Jesus Born?

We are never far from the time of the year when the world celebrates the supposed birth of Jesus Christ. The jingles on the radio and television invade our sanity earlier every year, and the decorations now go up before Halloween! Anywhere we go, Christmas "cheer" is inescapable. For most of us, this is a season we struggle through, wishing it would rush by and be over.

Yet it is also a season that requires us to be on our guard. Those of us who do not celebrate Christmas often stick out in a crowd. Such a difference piques the curiosity of some, and they may ask why we do not keep it. If we respond, "Christ was not born on December 25," can we prove it? If He was not born on that date, then when was He born? What are the facts?

When this subject is broached, many Protestants and Catholics become quite emotional, often becoming firmly entrenched concerning the December 25 date in spite of the facts. Many simply enjoy the season and feel that the actual day of Christ's birth is irrelevant. Biblical and historical scholars are equally divided over this question as well. Christmas, however, is founded on the premise that Jesus was born on December 25, and a person who is truly striving to follow the Bible will see that the celebration of Christmas is based upon falsehood.

The Clues in Luke's Gospel

On the surface, the accounts of Matthew and Luke reveal little about the time of Jesus' birth. No dates are given, no season of the year is named. As a well-regarded historian, Luke, however, provides a sound, orderly account of the events that removes any doubt as to the general time of Jesus' birth. All the clues are there, and all that is required is to dig them out and put them in order to discover the truth.

In a long section covering Luke 1:5 through 2:8, Luke writes of a specific series of events in chronological order. He begins by telling the story of Zacharias, a priest, and his wife Elizabeth, who were childless. While administering his priestly duties during the course of Abijah, Zacharias was visited by the angel Gabriel, who told him that his prayers had been answered and that he and Elizabeth would have a son. They were to name him John.

Because Zacharias doubted that this would happen, Gabriel informed him that he would not be able to speak until the birth of his son. As soon as his service in the Temple was completed, he returned to his own house. Elizabeth soon conceived and hid herself five months, unsure of how her pregnancy would be viewed.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, Gabriel visited Mary and informed her, "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call His name Jesus" (verse 31). Soon thereafter, Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth and stayed with her until the latter's ninth month, leaving just prior to John's birth. Jesus, then, was born approximately six months after John.

What information do we have up to this point?

• Zacharias, a priest, performed his duties during the course of Abijah.
• After he returned home from Jerusalem, Elizabeth conceived.
• Mary conceived in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy.
• John was born approximately six months before Jesus.
The Course of Abijah To date Jesus' birth, we need a starting point. Fortunately, Luke supplies one in mentioning "the course of Abijah" (Luke 1:5). Is it possible to know if this course existed then, when it fell during the year, and how long it lasted? Indeed it is! I Chronicles 24 lists the courses, divisions or shifts of the priesthood that served in the Temple throughout the year. Verse 1 states, "These are the divisions of the sons of Aaron." Among the sons of Eleazar were sixteen heads of their father's house, while among the sons of Ithamar were eight additional heads of house, making twenty-four courses (verse 4). These courses of priests were divided by lot to be officials of the sanctuary and of the house of God (verse 5). Beginning on Nisan 1, these courses rotated throughout the year, serving in the Temple for one week apiece. The course of Abijah, the course during which Zacharias was responsible to work, was the eighth shift (verse 10). Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian--who was, by the way, of the priestly lineage of the course of Jehoiarib, the first course--supplies further information about the priestly courses.

"He [David] divided them also into courses: and when he had separated the priests from them, he found of these priests twenty-four courses, sixteen of the house of Eleazar and eight of that of Ithamar; and he ordained that one course should minister to God [during] eight days, from [noon] Sabbath to [noon on the following] Sabbath. And thus were the courses distributed by lot, in the presence of David, and Zadok and Abiathar the high priest, and of all the rulers: and that course which came up first was written down as the first, and accordingly the second, and so on to the twenty-fourth; and this partition hath remained to this day" (Antiquities of the Jews, 7:14.7).

These courses were strictly followed until the Temple was destroyed in ad 70. The Talmud describes the details of the rotation of courses, beginning on Nisan 1. With only twenty-four courses, obviously each course was required to work twice a year, leaving three extra weeks. (The Hebrew year normally has fifty-one weeks. Intercalary, or leap, years have an additional four weeks.) The three holy day seasons, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, during which all the courses were required to serve, made up these three extra weeks. Thus, each of the courses worked five weeks out of the year: two in their specific courses and three during the holy day seasons. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Messiah (Malachi 3:1; Luke 1:13-17). The gospel accounts make it very clear that he was born about half a year before Jesus was born. From historical details in Luke's account especially, as well as the accuracy of the Seventy Weeks prophecy, it is clear that Jesus was born sometime in 4 BC. This means, counting back the nine months of gestation and the six-month difference in age, John must have been conceived in the first half of 5 BC. This fact forces us to choose the first shift of the course of Abijah as the time when Gabriel visited Zacharias in the Temple. Frederick R. Coulter, in his A Harmony of the Gospels (p. 9), computes it this way:

In the year 5 BC, the first day of the first month, the month of Nisan, according to the Hebrew Calendar, was a Sabbath. According to computer calculation synchronizing the Hebrew Calendar and the stylized Julian Calendar, it was April 8. Projecting forward, the assignments course by course, and week by week, were: Course 1, the first week; Course 2, the second week; all Courses for the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, the third week; Course 3, the fourth week; Course 4, the fifth week; Course 5, the sixth week; Course 6, the seventh week; Course 7, the eighth week; Course 8, the ninth week; and all courses [sic] the tenth week, which was the week of Pentecost.

Zacharias of the course of Abijah worked the ninth week in his assigned course and the tenth week in the Pentecost course, and this period ran from Iyar 27 through Sivan 12 (Hebrew calendar) or June 3 through 17 (Julian calendar). He probably returned home immediately after his shifts were completed, and Elizabeth most likely conceived in the following two-week period, June 18 through July 1, 5 BC. With this information we can calculate Elizabeth's sixth month as December, during which Mary also conceived (Luke 1:26-38). It is probable, because of the circumstances shown in Luke 1, that Mary conceived during the last two weeks of Elizabeth's sixth month. Thus, John was born in the spring of 4 BC, probably between March 18 and 31. By projecting forward another six months to Jesus' birth, the most probable time for His birth occurred between September 16 and 29. It is an interesting sidelight that Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpets, is one of the two middle days of this time period. Flocks in the Fields There is additional proof that Jesus was born in the fall of the year. The census of Quirinius that required Joseph to travel from Galilee to Bethlehem would most probably have taken place after the fall harvest when people were more able to return to their ancestral homes (Luke 2:1-5). Besides, it was customary in Judea to do their tax collecting during this period, as the bulk of a farmer's income came at this time. Another point is that Joseph and Mary had to find shelter in a barn or some other kind of animal shelter like a cave or grotto because the inns were full (verse 7). This indicates that the pilgrims from around the world had begun to arrive in Jerusalem and surrounding towns. Thus, the fall festival season had already commenced. There would have been no similar influx of pilgrims in December. Also, as the shepherds were still in the fields with their flocks (verse 8), Jesus' birth could not have occurred during the cold-weather months of winter. Sheep were normally brought into centrally located pens or corrals as the weather turned colder and the rainy season began, especially at night. If this were not significant, it begs the question, "Why would Luke have mentioned it in such detail if not to convey a time reference?" Notice what commentator Adam Clarke writes regarding this:

It was a custom among the Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts [wilderness], about the passover [sic], and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain: during the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As the passover [sic] occurred in the spring, and the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our October and November, we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole of the summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact, which casts considerable light on this disputed point. (Clarke's Commentary, vol. V, p. 370)

Why is it important that we know when Jesus was born? We certainly do not use this knowledge to celebrate His birthday--He tells us to commemorate His death, not His birth (I Corinthians 11:23-26). The true date, however, destroys the entire foundation of the Christmas holiday. It also points to the proper time of His ministry, crucifixion and resurrection, helping to disprove the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition also. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, it renews our faith in God's Word--that it is true, verifiable and historically accurate. In addition, we should know even these details so that we can provide common-sense reasons for our beliefs. We live in a world of compromise and confusion--especially in the realm of religion--and thus we must study and follow what is true so we will not be fooled by what is counterfeit. The Christmas season promotes a lie concerning the date of the birth of Jesus Christ. We need to do more than reject the world's explanation; we need to know, prove and follow what is true.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/160246

The Faith, Hope and Love of Christmas

Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all people, for today in the city of David there has been born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10HCSB).

And now abide faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

The good news (the gospel) announced to the shepherds on the first Christmas has been celebrated throughout the centuries. Mary was chosen by God to bring the Son of God to the world. An angel told Joseph that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised His disciples that although He was leaving, He would still be with them because His Father would send them the Holy Spirit to help them, teach them and help them remember the things He had said. The Holy Spirit brought gifts with Him to enable Christ's disciples to carry on His work. There would be specific, individual gifts but the abiding gifts of faith, hope and love would be given to all believers.

Faith is the revelation of the good news.

Through faith we see God for who He really is. His nature is revealed to us through faith. Faith is not blind. It allows us to see the miracles that God has wrought through His Son. As C.S. Lewis says, "The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares the way for this, or results from this."

When you believe in the miracle of the Incarnation and invite the Christ who chose to be born in a manger to take residence in the manger of your heart, you experience the greatest miracle of all - forgiveness of your sins, reconciliation with God and a place in His forever family.

In faith, the servants of God in the Old Testament looked forward to this miracle and the revelation of God's presence. Disciples in the New Testament and followers of Christ ever since that time have all come to God through abiding faith.

All we need to know about God we see in Jesus. Through faith in Him, we see the nature of God revealed.

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). For the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ (Colossians 2:9).

Hope is the fulfillment of the good news. We hope because of God and God does not disappoint.

God's word in the Old Testament prophesied of God's salvation through the coming Messiah. His word in the New Testament recorded that salvation obtained through the miraculous birth, sinless life, sacrificial death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the men of old believed God would deliver what He promised, men today look back upon that accomplished fact in history. The Son of God gives all believers the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

Like Abraham, our faith is in a God who fulfills His promises. Our hope is not a "hope so," but "I know He will." We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure (Hebrews 6:19). Peter calls our hope a living hope (1 Peter 1:3).

Love is the good news.

God does not need faith. Neither does He need hope. We do. He provides what we need so that we might see the love He has for us. We love Him only because He first loved us.

God is love. It was love that brought Jesus to earth. It was love that enabled Him to endure temptations and shame so that He could be our perfect substitute. It was love that led Him to the cross. It was love that resurrected Him from the dead.

He loved us and wants us to love others the same way - sacrificially (John 15:9-14).

The King of kings chose to be born in a stable because of His love for us. There is no greater love. Love is the gospel story.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8835647

Does God Sanction the Celebrating of Jesus' Birth?

There is not a Christmas season that arrives that does not bring with it discussion and even discord over the actual birthday of Jesus. It seems to me that Christian brothers and sisters would not squabble over such a small thing. It might be a good thing to remember the teachings of Jesus relating to loving each other. But, since many seem stuck on resolving minor meaningless differences I decided to put my 2 cents worth in.

Let's start with what we know for sure about His date of birth. What we know for sure is we really don't know. We do know that there are several dates that have people who will swear are the correct birth date. There are some that say it had to be in May, and they can provide their "evidence" proving it. And there are those who say it had to be in September, and they also can provide their "evidence" proving it. Of course there is the ongoing debate regarding December 25th vs. January 6th. Yes, there are those who have "proof" that the birth of Jesus truly is December 25th. If you are interested is some of the pro December 25th arguments you may want to visit the Wikipedia site at the bottom of this article.

The truth is rather than focusing on whether the date we celebrate His birth is the correct date, we probably ought to think about if we should celebrate it at all. There are some out there that think we should not. Usually they will point to Deuteronomy 12:28-31, which reads:

28 Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

29 The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, 30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." 31 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

Personally, I do not believe that the above scripture prohibits Christians recognizing or celebrating the birth of Jesus.

In any event, the date really doesn't matter. If God had decided it was important He would have made the date clear. He did not, however He did give us quite a bit of information about the birth, so He felt that it was important. I would agree it is not as important as the resurrection, but it did have to happen first. I think what is important is our attitude towards Christmas. There are those who believe Christmas is a compromise with paganism and others who have other problems with Christmas. Trust me, I have heard it all. Having said that, December 25th happens to be the day we observe as the birth of Jesus. If I am going to observe it at all, I will do so on that date. I guess I could observe it in May or September but I probably won't see quite as many Nativity scenes.

So, how should Christians celebrate Christmas? I believe it is important to remember that Christmas is really about gifts. Oh, not the temporal material gifts that it seems to have become about, but the gifts Jesus gave us. Christ gave us gifts of eternal value: His love and companionship along with gifts of salvation, forgiveness of sins, the indwelling Holy Spirit, His righteousness, peace, joy, wise counsel, healed minds, restored relationships, and adoption into His eternal home. Now those are some gifts I am glad I received!

I hope you always appreciate Christmas but from the correct perspective.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3478710

The Faith, Hope and Love of Christmas

Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all people, for today in the city of David there has been born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10HCSB).
And now abide faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).
The good news (the gospel) announced to the shepherds on the first Christmas has been celebrated throughout the centuries. Mary was chosen by God to bring the Son of God to the world. An angel told Joseph that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised His disciples that although He was leaving, He would still be with them because His Father would send them the Holy Spirit to help them, teach them and help them remember the things He had said. The Holy Spirit brought gifts with Him to enable Christ's disciples to carry on His work. There would be specific, individual gifts but the abiding gifts of faith, hope and love would be given to all believers.
Faith is the revelation of the good news.
Through faith we see God for who He really is. His nature is revealed to us through faith. Faith is not blind. It allows us to see the miracles that God has wrought through His Son. As C.S. Lewis says, "The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares the way for this, or results from this."
When you believe in the miracle of the Incarnation and invite the Christ who chose to be born in a manger to take residence in the manger of your heart, you experience the greatest miracle of all - forgiveness of your sins, reconciliation with God and a place in His forever family.
In faith, the servants of God in the Old Testament looked forward to this miracle and the revelation of God's presence. Disciples in the New Testament and followers of Christ ever since that time have all come to God through abiding faith.
All we need to know about God we see in Jesus. Through faith in Him, we see the nature of God revealed.
For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). For the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ (Colossians 2:9).
Hope is the fulfillment of the good news. We hope because of God and God does not disappoint.
God's word in the Old Testament prophesied of God's salvation through the coming Messiah. His word in the New Testament recorded that salvation obtained through the miraculous birth, sinless life, sacrificial death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the men of old believed God would deliver what He promised, men today look back upon that accomplished fact in history. The Son of God gives all believers the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
Like Abraham, our faith is in a God who fulfills His promises. Our hope is not a "hope so," but "I know He will." We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure (Hebrews 6:19). Peter calls our hope a living hope (1 Peter 1:3).
Love is the good news.
God does not need faith. Neither does He need hope. We do. He provides what we need so that we might see the love He has for us. We love Him only because He first loved us.
God is love. It was love that brought Jesus to earth. It was love that enabled Him to endure temptations and shame so that He could be our perfect substitute. It was love that led Him to the cross. It was love that resurrected Him from the dead.
He loved us and wants us to love others the same way - sacrificially (John 15:9-14).
The King of kings chose to be born in a stable because of His love for us. There is no greater love. Love is the gospel story.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8835647

When Was Jesus Born?

The exact date of Christ's birth is not known says the Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. Still, millions of professed Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25. This date, however, appears nowhere in the Bible. Was Jesus really born in December?

Although the Bible does not give a specific date for Jesus birth, it does provide evidence that he was not born in December. Also from secular evidence we can learn why December 25 was adopted as the date for celebrating his birth.

Luke's Gospel reports that Jesus was born in the Judean city of Bethlehem. There was also in that same country shepherds living out of doors and keeping watches in the night over their flocks. This was not unusual. The flocks had to spend the greater part of the year in the open air. But the point is that would the shepherds be outside with their flocks on a cold December night when they are suppose to pass the winter under cover? With this, it seems that the traditional date of Christmas in the winter is unlikely to be right.

Significantly, most historians and Bible scholars reject December 25 as Jesus date of birth. There is no doubt that you can find this information in an encyclopedia to which you have access. The Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia states: "There is general agreement that Jesus was not born on December 25."

Why December 25 Was Chosen?
Hundreds of years after Jesus' death. December 25 was chosen as the date of his birth. Why? This is because numerous historians believe that the time of year that became the Christmas season was actually a period when pagan festivities were celebrated.

For instance, Encyclopedia Britannica states: "One widespread explanation of the origin of this date is that December 25 was the Christianizing of the dies solis invicti nati (day of the birth of the unconquered sun), a popular holiday in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice as a symbol of the resurgence of the sun, the casting away of winter and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer.

According to Encyclopedia Americana, the reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the "rebirth of the sun."

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1810307

Early Christian and Contemporary Leadership - Infusion of Values Then and Now

The word value in the global business arena has economic meaning, wealth accumulation, and product value to consumers. Value seems to imply, "What's in it for me." This is a false understanding of value from a Christian leadership perspective because it separates the value of things and segregates worth from the value of core beliefs. Therefore, this paper explores value as belief from the perspective of Paul's letter to Titus. There is a reach backward in time to understand Paul's short message to Titus and a return to the present to apply the message to contemporary leadership.
The world of Paul and Titus was undergoing radical change. A shift in spiritual and Old Testament values began changing because one man walked the earth for about 33 years. The profound nature of this man attacked the ideals and beliefs of people throughout the Mediterranean (Matera, 1996). Paul, a Greek Jew and Roman citizen, became an apostle after the ascension of Jesus and the Pentecost event in Acts chapter 2. Even Paul's selection was a radical departure from how the original twelve received their commission (Acts 22:6-10).
The Mediterranean became a breading ground for followers of a new faith in God through the teaching and preaching of apostles about a Jew named Jesus they came to believe was the Messiah, in Hebrew, or Christ, in Greek. Jewish Lawgivers considered Jesus a threat to their law (Matthew 22:18, Mark 12:16, Luke 20:26), and these radical Jesus believers were equally threatening (Acts 8:1, 11:19). How different is the time of Paul and Titus radically changing their world with the time of contemporary leadership today?
Humble beginnings A brief introduction to the letter of Paul to Titus in the Catholic Bible, The Way, tells of a high school athlete who felt it was his mission as a Christian and a student leader to share his beliefs with others, to lead from a Christian value-base. This student athlete felt his calling and walked-the-walk of Christian values and help bring others to Jesus. Titus had a calling also. Unlike the athlete of today with lengthy church history and teaching, Titus was a leader in a new faith following. Paul taught Titus to live the faith not just talk about it. The infusion of values in the Church at Crete was entrusted to Titus, a Greek convert, not originally from Jewish belief (Phillips, no date). This is where the lesson begins.
A brief history of Crete in the period of Paul's writing includes paganism and holding to many Greek traditions (Matera, 1996). People of Crete had a bad reputation among Mediterranean people of lying and deceitfulness. Yet, Paul with Titus established a foothold of Christianity in the main cities working together. Titus remained on Crete because Paul recognized his leadership.
Paul opens his letter by reducing himself to a slave of God and messenger of Jesus Christ (Titus 1:1). Contemporary thought places a negative value on being a slave; however, Old Testament references to servant of God appear to honor the servant rather than reduce him. Examples of this are found in Joshua 14:7 speaking of Moses, Psalm 89:3 and 2 Samuel 7:5, 8 referring to David, and 2 Kings 10:10 referring to Elijah. Thus, Paul adopted a servant leader and mentor role as he explains in 1:3 that in God's time He revealed His Good News to Paul so he could share it with everyone. Paul explains his command from God, entrusted by God, to do His work. As Paul proclaims himself a servant, he lifts Titus to a position of son in the affairs of the Lord (1:4-5). Although Titus is subordinate to Paul, Paul chooses to lift Titus to high stature next to Paul. Titus, a trusted member of Paul's mission on Crete, is entrusted with the great task of being a role model and selecting elders who are also role models in teaching the truth of God's greatness through Jesus the Christ.
Viewing this introduction from the eyes of contemporary leadership, Paul teaches the ethic of empowerment, mentoring, and promoting subordinates' through their knowledge and expertise. There is clear communication, sharing of vision and mission. Therefore, the ideal contemporary leader is a person who embodies the value of trust that leads to the ethic of empowerment, mentoring, and promoting. Paul introduces Titus to a concept of values-based leadership. Organizations undergoing radical change and the reculturing that results can exercise these values and ethics in a way that empower others to become, as Titus, a disciple of the leader, mentored by the leader, and entrusted with the vision. Zigarelli (2002) gives an example of a Christian leader being an encourager of others at work. As Paul encouraged Titus, Christian leaders need to share encouragement. Values Infusion: Then versus Now Titus Chapter 1 - Elder versus Contemporary Leader Paul writes the importance of soundness of elders selected by Titus. In chapter 1 verse 6, Paul tells Titus to pick men who highly thought of for their good lives, of sound character. The Greek1 words used are anegkletos, meaning blameless or cannot be called into account, unreprovable, and didaskalia te hygiainouse, meaning to teach sound doctrine as well as being healthy, whole, or safe.
Titus and the elders must be standard bearers of the church living wholesome lives and ministering to health of the community. Paul repeats this theme throughout his letters and Jude writes similarly in Jude 1:2-5. Elders, according to Titus 1:6-9, must have good families, obedient children, not be proud an impatient, be blameless, not drunkards, sensible and fair, enjoy guests in their homes. Again, Greek terms, used about elders' children, include anypotakta, children who are believers and not rebellious, and aischrokerde, not fond of sordid gain. They must adhere to the truth as taught them, and be able to teach others. Ministering to the health of the community, as Paul tells Titus helps guard against false teachers and "the demands of men who have turned their backs on the truth" (1:14). Paul uses another term with stronger implications, purity of the elder. This purity means several things (Titus 1:15, 16): First, it means clean in contrast to dirty. Second, it means free for defilement. Third, pure means being free from corruption (Duncan, 2004 and Phillips, no date). Understanding these three usages of pure, we develop an understanding of being morally good or someone who is not of mixed values and ethics.
Paul does not mince terms when addressing the behaviors of Cretans. In 1:12, Paul calls them vicious brutes and lazy gluttons. In verse 1:16, the original Greek phrase, "... pros pan ergon agathon adokimoi1" translates to "... unfit for any good work." Among these people, Titus is to establish new faith communities. In early church leadership on Crete, Paul establishes a doctrine of soundness and purity at the core of belief and behavior. Paul expresses a pure doctrine of faith and trust in God leading to soundness in faith. Note: 1. Matera, F. J. (1996). New Testament Ethics: The Legacies of Jesus and Paul. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
Exploring values-based leadership from these teachings, the contemporary leader seeks subordinate leaders known for their honesty and truth in character. This group understands the shared vision and is able to share the mission. Contemporary leaders are open to others and willing to share knowledge. These contemporary leaders must understand the relationship between themselves and their followers. Further, these people respect the dignity of those they lead. Successful infusion of values involves inclusion not exclusion in decision-making. Inclusion also guards against inaccurate information processing (false teaching) (O'Toole, 1996). Purity as a value in contemporary leadership takes into account integrity - not losing sight of goals or compromising principles. Leaders trust, listen to, and respect followers. Taking a lesson from Paul and Titus, contemporary leaders enlist others who share vision and can communicate it to followers in a way that urges followers to see an ideal, therefore, seeking it for themselves. A parallel found in reading Zigarelli (2002), is that Christian leaders work as though their tools belong to God, provided by God, so they can do their work.
Titus Chapter 2 - Sound Teaching versus Contemporary Mentoring Thus far, the discussion is of finding strong elders of good character who are sound, pure, and capable of sharing the faith to all. This model of early church leadership focuses on constant checking and assurance that elders support the faith structure with trust in God, elders' lead exemplary lives, are sound, and pure. Chapter 1 explains how we know an elder of the church by their sound teachers. Chapter 2 begins reciting how we know the church by sound teaching. Chapter 2 adds to core values stated in chapter 1. Adding to faith and trust in God, purity and soundness, chapter 2 adds that older men must do "everything with love and patience" (2:2). Men must not drunkards or use abusive language toward others (2:3). Older Women must teach younger women of goodness, caring for their husbands and children, being sensible and clean in their minds (2:3-5). Young men must take life seriously, be examples to others, do good deeds, and reflect love for the truth (2:7,8). Paul's lesson for the church is discipline and self-control, "to live good, God-fearing lives day after day" (2:12). Paul instructs Titus to mentor, encourage, and correct when necessary. Paul's own encouragement to Titus is exercise authority as a leader having the right to do so (2:15).
In the contemporary world, slavery as known in the time of Paul and Titus does not exist. Paul teaches that slaves must be obedient to their masters, be trustworthy and honest in all affairs of their masters (Titus 2:9,10). For the contemporary organization, followers must obey the policies and procedures from their leaders. Guinness (2000) appears to explain this in modern terms that parallel Paul, "The qualities of good work are not the qualities of good character" (pg. 200). The contemporary leader has responsibilities as well, in their teaching; they must exercise self-control and discipline - set the example. Leading by example means being alert and ready to lead, avoiding excessive intoxicants, according to Paul, not be heavy drinkers.
O'Toole (1996) provides an example of this when he writes that leaders must provide every opportunity for followers to experience their full potential. Reading Zigarelli (2002), one sees an attempt to balance needs of people in the organization to needs of the organization. What Zigarelli suggests is a point of intersection where leaders exercise a service role to both people (workers, followers) and organizational requirements. This does not appear different from the writing of Paul in Titus that leaders infuse values by leading good lives recognizing that God shares the gifts of the Spirit equally with all.
Titus Chapter 3 - Public Demonstration of Values It is not enough to have teachers and teachings of values if displayed only within the narrow scope of the Church community. The communities of Christians do not exist separately from the rest of civilization. Paul knows how important it is to obey civil law. Evans (1998) describes this as a Christian duty to be subordinate to governmental authority. As the elders are not to speak ill of anyone, the entire church is not to speak ill of those in civil authority, obey them, and render good against evil.
People faced the necessity for obedience to God and obedience to civil authority. Paul tells Titus to teach this observance to law because the good works of the Church community shows others their freedom from evil indulgences and, according to Barnes (2006), "it was the design of God in redeeming them, that they should manifest every kind of virtue." From this, Titus teaches avoidance of strife and contentiousness over the law. Harper and Fellow (1999) explain that Chapter 3 is a chapter of commission. By commission, elders pastor in their communities and are evaluated by their service rather than their ladder climbing.
It is not a giant leap from Titus to contemporary leadership. Hoffman (2006) linked obedience to God's law with the laws of nature and the laws of men in the writing of St. Thomas Aquinas. In Greek philosophy, the search for knowledge began with man, and worked toward nature, then God. However, Aquinas, himself a philosopher and Christian leader reversed the philosophy making God first and man last in the order of discovery of truth. Therefore, leaders in organizations today need to recognize the higher order value of spiritual life to pull the elements of secular life into focus. Paul to Titus appears to teach that obedience to God's desires results in obedience to all things. Understanding Titus in Contemporary Leadership
Within each of the short chapters in Titus, there is a theme. The first theme is competent leadership and selecting subordinate leaders who have and can share the leader's values. The second theme explains how leaders must display their values through action with in the organization. The third theme is openly behaving with respect and obedience to those appointed over up even in the government.
Harper and Fellow (1999) title their discussion of Titus as, "Keeping Watch over Ourselves." Already mentioned, leaders have a commission to serve not to presume position or power. They convey six other elements of contemporary leadership to value.
1. Character, the bedrock of leadership
2. Communion, living in Christ, living in grace, having peace. The value of communion allows a leader to Sheppard and serves members of their organization.
3. Conviction, having clarity
4. Competence, learned through receiving good mentoring
5. Contextualization, different leaders have different traits and abilities, leadership is not one-size-fits-all. Apply appropriate leadership skills where they fit.
6. Community, leadership within an organization. Recognizing all members seek a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves.
Guinness (2000) helps connect these values in a single thought. He cites Chesterton (1924) writing a biography of St. Francis Assisi. In this writing, Chesterton stated, "... he [Francis] had found the secret of life in being the servant and the secondary figure" (pg. 216). Conclusion In the introduction, the position taken is the word value has implicitly become one of economic meaning, wealth accumulation, and product value to consumers. As introduced, value is a singular word. Values, plural, in the terms of Titus and contemporary leadership imply a standard of behavior. From Paul to Titus, to elders of the Church, to interactions with others, to obedience of God's law and laws of man, values form the standards of behavior. This paper takes the position that Christian values are higher order importance than value. This paper also takes the position that contemporary leaders share these values in leadership of their organizations whether or not they call them Christian values. Remaining open for deeper examination in organizational development is the degree to which values influence value.

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The Law and Love

Whenever Christians do something the world doesn't like, self appointed experts begin to complain, saying, true Christianity is not about (fill in the blank) but about love. They complain when Christians abandon warm and fuzzy religiosity and actually do something that makes a difference in the world. They grumble, saying, Christianity does not belong in the market place, but safely behind the four walls of the Church were it won't disrupt the lives of normal people. These "experts" may be found in the Church as well as in the world. What both groups have in common is a lack of understanding concerning true Christian love.
Many people - Christian and non-Christian alike - define love in terms of emotion. Certainly, emotion is often part of the mix, but the fact is, you don't need to feel anything in order to exercise biblical love. In the Bible, love is primarily concerned with our covenant relationship with the Lord. This means one who is in covenant with the Creator fulfills the conditions of the relationship by exercising love. Thus, Jesus said, YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40). In other words, everything God ever said about right relationship with him is summed up in these two commandments. It doesn't mean we can throw away the Bible and just "love;" we won't understand what Christ meant by "love" if we do that. These words of Christ remind us that love is first of all a matter obedience.
The Apostle John wrote, By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:2-3). Keeping the commandments of God is evidence of love toward God and his children. Hence, love is primarily about how we act. It is not enough to say we love the Lord and our neighbor, we must show it. Therefore, true love depends (in part) on a good knowledge of the Bible.
There is no part of life exempt from the expression of love. For instance, part of loving God and our neighbor is to love our immediate family. Nonetheless, this most basic employment of the law is often overlooked and we end up treating those closest to us with the least love. The Bible says we are to lay our life down for others and think of others more highly than our-self. Yet, countless Christian husbands fail to love their wives and children because they neglect to exercise servant leadership.
Moreover, we show love in the local fellowship by following the biblical commands concerning the Church. Pastors love in teaching and admonishing the flock while the congregation shows love in obeying their pastor and supporting him in his ministry (1 Corinthians 9:9-10, Hebrews 13:7, 17).
We are also called to show love to God in the way we engage the world. All of our activities - on the job, in our political involvement, our community service, our recreation - everything must be done as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:17). Indeed, we might say that the Bible is a handbook on how to show love to God and our fellow man; we cannot properly love unless we know the word and obey it.

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The Effects of False Prophets With a Simple Solution - Christians and the Bible

If you have a advanced understanding of the Bible, there's a pretty good chance that you will be able to spot false prophets, easily. There is no way to guarantee that extensive Bible study will give you the psychic ability that's necessary, to spot these people, the moment that you come into contact with them, but they will be easier to spot as you increase your knowledge on Christianity, not just Bible study.
I heard Ronald Reagan give a speech one time where he said "if I was stranded on a desert island and only had one book to read, it would be the Holy Bible." I don't know if I share his point of view on that one but there are quite a few Christians who share his opinion. I have encountered plenty of people who read the Bible on a daily basis, but have limited knowledge about Christianity. Like where did the Bible come from or what happened to the 12 disciples.
These are the people that are easily misled. As children, we are educated often in a sheltered environment. It's easy for children to accept the beliefs and practices of their parents. If your parents are strong Christians, there's a very good chance that you yourself can become a strong Christian if nurtured properly.
Here's where the problem with false prophets lies in Christianity. If your parents are already following false or misquoted religious beliefs and doctrine, there's a good chance that you could follow the same path. If you look up to and respect your parents, grandparents and teachers, and their following a false prophet, how would you know.
I have talked to people who believe so strongly that they are right and others are wrong. That they won't even talk to Christians with different beliefs. Seven day Adventist that won't talk to Pentecostals, Mormons that won't talk to Methodist and the biggest one of all, Christians that won't talk to atheists. They get so caught up in what they were taught, that they won't listen to reason.
These false prophets aren't easy to spot, especially if you're caught up in their religious beliefs. If your church leaders are purposely misquoting the Bible, I would suggest that you confront the leaders in private, never do this in front of the congregation because they will need to defend themselves and it could get ugly. Most of them need to protect their jobs or beliefs.
If they are misquoting Bible scripture, simply point this out to them in a kind and loving manner. There's no need to become abusive over Bible scripture. If they can't explain themselves to you in a satisfactory manner, maybe it's time for you to go to another church, or start talking to other followers about removing them as leaders in your church.

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Christian and Church Confinement

Acts 12:1-17 contains a wonderful story because it gives us many situations of the Christian life and Church life. In this scripture we find the following situations:
1. There are those who abuse or persecute the Church and Christians.
2. Christians find themselves in seemingly hopeless conditions.
3. A Christian must keep his faith in helpless conditions.
4. God sends help in times of trouble.
5. One of the main duties of the Church is to pray for one another.
6. Sometimes we actually are surprised when our prayers are answered.
The Church and Christians today face and experience the same problems and situations today. We can look at some of the high points of this story and see how they actually relate to us today.
Let us first look at Peter's imprisonment. Peter was put into prison because King Herod was persecuting the Church, vs 1-4. King Herod was persecuting and abusing the Church because he saw how it pleased the Jews, vs 3. Herod had killed James and when he saw how it pleased the Jews he set out to kill Peter. When Peter was apprehended it was during the Jewish passover, so Herod had Peter imprisoned until the passover was finished. One great thing to note here is that seeking pleasure from others as King Herod was doing is what keeps people continuing in their sins. This is just what Jesus warned others not to do.
What does it mean to be imprisoned? It means to be confined. It means to be in a hopeless and helpless condition. Peter was in this perilous condition. He was held in prison guarded by 16 soldiers with the sentence of death hanging over him. Christians also find themselves in hopeless and helpless situations. They confine themselves to things of the world. Christians confine their time to other things. Christians give their time to things they want to do and give their left over time to service within the Church. The problem and helpless condition here is that before they realize it there is no time left for the Church. The world will always be robbing Christians of time to give the Church is they allow it to.
We also become helpless because of our apathy, our lack of feeling. One of the greatest enemies of the Church today is the "I don't care" feeling of people. Let us put this in perspective of imprisonment. Prison is to be a deterrent to crime, but it is not so for many people today. Being confined and losing one's freedom is not the worst thing for some people today, because they are already in a worse condition. They are homeless, hungry, and lonely. They are missing the basic human needs that rank for more important than being confined. In prison they find these things so they don't care if they go to prison.
Being confined should be a deterrent for Christians. When the Christian is confined by things of the world he cannot do the things he needs to be doing for the Lord. When Christians are confined they miss the joy that is found in serving the Lord. But the problem is the same as we have already mentioned. When Christians give themselves to service of the Church and to God, they give up a little of their opportunity to make a little more money, or to have a little more of the world's pleasures. Somehow Christians have gotten their ideas and priorities mixed up. They have lost the joy in serving the Lord; therefore, to find joy Christians confine themselves to seeking it from the world. As they become more and more confined to finding joy from the world the same apathetic feeling comes to them just as it does to many who are in prison, "why should I care anymore?"
God sent help to Peter when he was confined and in his hopeless situation. In Peter's case God sends an angel, vs 7. God sends help at the right time. The angel came when the guards were sleeping. The angel came just before the day Peter was to be delivered for execution. God sends the type of help that will be sufficient to overcome our confinement. The angel was sufficient to free Peter from his chains. The angel woke Peter by hitting him on his side and gave him directions to follow. Peter was told to "arise quickly". When he was obedient the chains fell from his hands. Peter was told to gird himself, to put on his clothes and his sandals and follow the messenger of God. When Peter was obedient he found himself led out into the street. There a couple of things to note here: (1) when Christians receive help from God in times of trouble they are expected to follow His leading in total and immediate obedience. (2) When God begins to lead Christians and they are obedient to follow, God makes the way easy. When the angel came to Peter, a light also shined in the prison. When Christians follow God's leading, they are led out of the darkness into the light.
God sends help because Christians ask for it. Jesus said, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them", Mark 11:24. Peter was surely praying for his release all the time he was in prison. It seems that Peter's faith was strong. He was able to sleep between two guards, and was able to sleep even though he knew he was facing death. How many Christians today have that kind of faith?
The Church was also praying for Peter's release. Vs 5, "Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him". They prayed without ceasing. They prayed when they were congregated together; they prayed when they were alone; and they prayed along their way. Christians today take a short time in worship service to make their prayer requests known and to pray for these requests, but how much further do they take these requests? Do they make it a matter of continual prayer?
The reaction of Christians and the Church to God's help is not always what is expected. Peter's reaction was that he thought he as dreaming, vs 9. He had to be led all the way out into the street and be totally free before he could believe what had really happened. Sometimes it takes Christians a while to realize that the help they have received during helpless times had really come from God. The Church's reaction to God's help was one of surprise. When Peter was released he went to Mary's house where the Church was gathered together and praying. When God does something great for us, we should do the same thing. We should take it to the Church as a testimony and tell others what God has done for us, that they may be strengthened as well. When Peter knocked on Mary's door, Rhoda came to answer. She was so happy to see Peter that she did not open the door, but ran to tell the others that Peter was free and standing before the gate. When the Church people heard what Rhoda had said, they said to her, "Thou art mad". They were praying for Peter's release, yet would not believe it had happened when they were told Peter was released. How many times do Christians pray for something, and yet fail to believe it happens as a result of their prayers?
Since the beginning of the Church, the Church has always faced her problems. Some of the problems the Church has faced include:
1. Getting the Gospel to the outsiders.
2. Securing spiritual results from the Church's ministry.
3. Finding the right leaders for various ministries.
4. Having a lack of love and unity.
5. Disciplining new converts.
These problems are serious but not the most crucial. The critical problem that leads to a fatal condition is the prayer life of the Church. The strength of any Church will be directly proportionate with it's prayer life. The greater the prayer life of it's membership, the greater the strength of the Church. Prayer will supersede all problems that the Church will encounter. It will release the Church from the bondage and confinement she finds herself. Prayer will keep the Church in a loving and united condition. But it takes continual prayer, not just spontaneous prayer. Prayer without ceasing for others in the answer to keep Christians from falling into confinement of the world, and to keep them free to serve the Lord, and to receive the joy promised.

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