We've Been Doing Communion Wrong?

Communion - The Lord's Supper, this is something that sets Christians apart from all other religions. We gather and share the bread and wine for one joyful reason:

"This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19)

There's no magic or miracles involved, just a command - do this and remember Me. That's what Christianity is all about; Jesus. Even false religions celebrate Communion; Mormons do it, however they're not following the bible, their ceremony comes from the oddly inspired pen of Joseph Smith, so take that for what it's worth. Followers of prosperity pimp Kenneth Copeland take communion too, for their own gain, not to glorify Jesus. And the Catholics - I'll let Jesse cover that. 

As for the rest of us, I bet you we do it wrong, our little church of bereans sure was. Pastor Paratus pointed this out today in his message. How many times have you been to communion, your pastor steps away from the lectern to conduct the ceremony with those words we all know:

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

This is WRONG. 

Ten Commandment Tuesday - How To Delete A Commandment You Don't Like

I Bring You These Fifteen... oops... Ten Commandments...

Are there 10 commandments? Mel Brooks told us that there were really 15 commandments but there was this issue coming down off Mt. Sinai. An atheist who didn't know anything about the bible he was arguing against said that there were over 600 commandments. I've been told that the 10 commandments are God's instructions to the Jews, so as gentiles they don't apply to us.

Are the 10 commandments the be-all, end-all of how God wants us to obey or are they merely guidelines?

The 10 Commandments seem to be a difficult to achieve moral imperative, but our salvation is no longer depending on the law, our salvation is in Christ. It is by our faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved, and that's only through God's grace. Does that mean that we can pitch the 10 Commandments off to the side and do what we want? Let me quote what Dennis Prager said at the beginning of this series:

[The 10 Commandments are] so relevant that the Ten Commandments are all that is necessary to make a good world, a world free of tyranny and cruelty... In 3,000 years no one has ever come up with a better system than the God-based Ten Commandments for making a better world. And no one ever will

And that's all we need to know, the 10 commandments are both marching order for the Jews, and guidelines for behavior as Christians. Having faith in Christ does not make murder or theft permissible because Jesus did not replace the 10 Commandments, what He did was make it proper application to the heart (Romans 8:1-4). Gotquestions.org tells us:

In place of the Old Testament law, Christians are under the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), which is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and to love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). If we obey those two commands, we will be fulfilling all that Christ requires of us: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40)

So it's good to review the 10 commandments, 1-4 tells us how to love God and 5-10 tells us how to love each other... unless you're a Roman Catholic. Given the option to remove a commandment a good Protestant would remove #4 - remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy and I've already covered that commandment from the Protestant point of view. But no matter if you're a sabbatarian or someone that demands repeal of Commandment #4, one day off a week to rest, recuperate, and recharge is a good idea, and God is the creator of good ideas.

Montanism - Nothing to do with Montana

St. Mary's Lake in Glacier National Park Montana

I've noticed that the word "Montanism" was appearing quite often in the WatchBlogosphere lately. When you see that happening it may be the Holy Spirit using Watchbloggers to spread a word that God needs spread, so I pay attention to these occurrences.

As I said,the word that I've seen being used is "Montanism" which at first I thought was an overly complex word that Christian theologians like to invent and smack about like a badminton shuttlecock. The next thing that came to mind was 'Montana' as in the state, or 'Montaña del Norte' which was the original Spanish name for the entire Rocky Mountain area (mountainous country of the north). But, of course, Montana and 'Montaña del Norte have nothing to do with Montanism. Nor is Montanism one of those 4+ syllable words that theologians love to invent, Montanism is actually a heretical form of Christianity and has been around for quite a while.

Montanism was known by its followers as the New Prophecy and to its adversaries as the Cataphrygian Heresy. It started as an early Christian movement in the late second century and was named after its founder, Montanus. Little is known about Montanus, and what documents that survive do not paint a complimentary picture. This is probably because the beliefs of Montanus and his followers contradict orthodox Christianity. Followers of Montanism unbiblically recognized women as bishops and presbyters (overseers and priests/elders) and also unbiblically claimed that apostles, prophets, bishops and presbyters had the the power to forgive sins. Even the Apostolic Church at the time realized that only God has the power to forgive sins (however confession has to be performed through a bishop or priest) But there's more, much more.

Cutting Up The Word of God

Not long ago I stumbled across an article that mentioned dividing the word of God. It talked about knowing what part of the bible was applicable to you. Do we divide the word whenever we emphasize one scripture over another? If so, what do we do with the rest? 

However this wasn't what I was looking for, so I pressed on looking for something else, but the concept hung with me and drew me back. But when I did go back looking for dividing scripture up I couldn't find that quote in the bible, which was because I read the NASB or the NIV, neither of which tells us to divide the word of God. That quote is found in the KJV in 2 Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

In the NASB 2 Timothy 2:15 is different

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

Knowing which parts of the bible that are most applicable to you is important, otherwise we wouldn't know if we were under the Edenic Covenant, the Adamic Covenant, the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Palestinian Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, the New Covenant, or any combination of the Covenants. But should we divide the scripture? The same epistle tells us 

Authority of the Bible – A Strong Argument for Christianity

by Patrick Zukeran

There are many books today that claim to be the Word of God. The Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Mormon, and other religious works all claim to be divinely inspired. The Bible claims to be the only book that is divinely inspired and that all other claims of inspiration from other works should be ruled out. Does the Bible confirm its exclusive claim to be the Word of God? The totality of evidences presents a strong case for the divine inspiration of the Bible.

The strongest argument for the divine inspiration of the Bible is the testimony of Jesus. Jesus claimed to be the divine Son of God and confirmed His claims through His sinless, miraculous life and resurrection. The events of His life have been recorded in the four Gospels, which have proven to be historically accurate and written by first century eyewitnesses.{1} Since Jesus is God incarnate, whatever He taught is true, and anything opposed to His teaching is false.
Jesus directly affirmed the authority of the Old Testament and indirectly affirmed the New Testament. In Luke 11:51, Jesus identified the prophets and the canon of the Old Testament. He names Abel as the first prophet from Genesis, and Zechariah the last prophet mentioned in 2 Chronicles, the last book in the Jewish Old Testament (which contains the same books we have today although placed in a different order). In Mark 7:8-9, Jesus refers to the Old Testament as the commands of God. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus states that the Law and the Prophets referring to the Old Testament is authoritative and imperishable. Throughout His ministry, Jesus made clear His teachings, corrections, and actions were consistent with the Old Testament. He also judged others teachings and traditions by the Old Testament. He thus demonstrated His affirmation of the Old Testament to be the Word of God.

It's a Matter of Authority

Ken Ham Speaking At Aurora Calvary Chapel

Science once told us that there were canals on Mars filled with water and made by martians.

Science once told us that bloodletting was good for what ails you... if you lived through it.

Science once told us that Astrology, the study of how the position of the planets and stars effected your life, was a legitimate science

Science once told us that the earth was hollow

Science once told us that Phrenology, the study of the size and shape of your head is directly related to your personality, was a legitimate science

Science once told us that what a pregnant female thinks will affect the personality of the baby.

If there is one fact that remains a fact when the harsh light of science is projected on it, it is the fact that every single scientific fact, theory, or hypothesis has been proven wrong. In some form or another. every discovery made has been updated, changed, modified, disproved, withdrawn, refuted, and revised. I don't mind science being wrong, because that's what science is all about, you make a guess, you get proven wrong, you start over. There is no "settled science" because the nature of science means to keep looking until you get it 100% right, which means you keep looking and keep revising and keep failing over and over and over.

Hey - that's the reality of science. It's not just throwing out unproven theories and demanding they be accepted because they sound good.