The Beginning of This Blog

This is a blog for the purpose of recording and publishing my thoughts and notes on many biblical topics.

I am in no means an expert.  I am just a student of the bible who continues to dig deep into the culture and history of the people, events, geography, language, and human migration recorded in the Biblical texts.

This will sometimes fit perfectly into mainstream teaching of those topics but on several occasions my research will have me point out differing opinions and thoughts that conflict or contrast with mainstream teaching and opinions.

This blog is not intended to be divisive.  I hold to the following motto...

"In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things love."

Problems usually arise over what we classify as an "essential".

For the purpose of this blog I am defining as essential as a necessary "step/action" for salvation.

An additional idea that I will also try to encourage in this blog is the idea of...

"Where the bible speaks, we speak, where the bible is silent, we are silent"

This "silence" is not always avoidable and may result sometimes in the following statement "this is just my opinion, I could be wrong"

Many topics will be an attempt to address questions or concerns that people have brought to my attention in hopes to find an answer, while others topics are raised from the many "rabbit trails" I have taken in the course of my research passion.

A final disclaimer and note... I am still studying...Many topics are a work in progress, and others although solid in my belief or opinion right now are subject to change as history and archaeology continue to advance.

God Speed

Popular posts from this blog

Gratitude and Thankfulness

Gratitude and Thankfulness If we could record our prayers and analyze them what would we find out? The following acronym helps me to examine my prayer life- ACTIS A (adoration) using our prayers as a method to express adoration of GOD/JESUS C (confession) using our prayers to confess our sins and faults and ask forgiveness T (thanksgiving) using our prayers to say thank you to GOD/JESUS I (Intercession) using our prayers to ask GOD/JESUS to intercede for someone else S (Supplication) using our prayers to as GOD/JESUS for something for me/us How much do we spend on each? Chances are if you are like me, the one that is lacking is THANKSGIVING! This video reminds me how little we show our gratitude and thankfulness in our prayer life.  What a wake up call it is to suggest that if we woke up tomorrow with only the things we thanked God for on the previous day, is an eye opener for me.  What would be left? Link to video
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Are tattoos sinful?

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First let me say I have tattoos, and i f I had money for every time I heard someone say "the bible says tattoos are wrong..." "or sinful", well I would be comfortable. So what does the bible say?  Actually...it doesn't say anything about what we know as modern day tattooing...but let me explain Here is the scripture most people use to frame the subject of tattoos. Leviticus 19:28   New International Version (NIV) 28  “‘Do not cut  your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the  Lord . At first this seems to contradict what I just said...but wait...even before I address that... What is overlooked is the full context of Leviticus 19.  Too often we pick and choose what scriptures we want to quote, use, or sometimes condemn. I find it strange how the preceding verse is never or seldom quoted. Leviticus 19:27   New International Version (NIV) 27  “‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or c...
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Etymology and the meaning of names

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It is hard for us to imagine, but God (Yahweh) has always had a plan from the beginning.  He is God. There is something to be said about Etymology and the meaning of names.  Today in our culture we often select a name because we just like it, it sounds good, or maybe it is a namesake after a relative. Seldom do we select a name based on the meaning and etymology of the word, but this was very important in many cultures including in the cultural study of the people of the old testament scriptures. In fact, when a significant event happened in someone's life, often a name was changed afterwards to commemorate that event-- Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel. Way before there was a printing press, God put in place a few hints to tell the story of mankind's coming redemption in Jesus.  One method was stars. Stars were put into place to declare the works and Glory of God . Glory is short for glorification, and glorification in the bible is used describe the process of sin...
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