Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Does the Church Need a Hanukkah? - Brian Hennessy ISRAEL TODAY

Does the Church Need a Hanukkah?

Tuesday, July 12, 2016 |  
Brian Hennessy  ISRAEL TODAY
This is not a campaign to add one more feast day to the Christian calendar. It’s about the church’s pressing need to celebrate a victory over a tyrannical ruling power as the Jews did over Greece in first century BC. Especially since the tyrannical power that has imprisoned and defiled the body of Messiah for centuries is the same Greek culture of corruption. 
As testimony to the Hellenization of the church, I could introduce a whole card catalogue of eminent historians and theologians. But I’ll let the words of one Biblical scholar, Norman H. Snaith, speak for all:  “Our position is that the re-interpretation of Biblical theology in terms of the Greek philosophers has been both widespread throughout the centuries, and everywhere destructive to the essence of the Christian faith…Neither Catholic nor Protestant theology is based on Biblical theologyIn each case we have a domination of Christian theology by Greek thought” (The Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament, p 187,188)
How did this happen, you ask? And why are so few Christians aware of it? More importantly, what can be done given that most are as clueless of this dreadful state of affairs as I was once. It took a class in Bible College entitled “Early Christian Thought” to open my eyes. That’s where I learned (with no help from the professor) how the early Church Fathers corrupted the church by interpreting the Bible through the philosophical “wisdom” of Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. 
Unlike the Jewish disciples who had faithfully delivered the gospel to us, these new Gentile leaders had not been raised on the Scriptures, but converted from paganism. In their zeal to define and defend the new faith, and to steer us away from Jewish hopes and promises for which they had little sympathy or understanding, they moved the church off the bedrock of revealed truth on to the shifting sands of man’s reasoning. 
Like a true Trojan Horse, Greek philosophy was ignorantly inserted into the life of the church.  But it didn’t take full control until a church council met at Nicea in 325 AD, presided over by the high priest of all Rome’s religions, the Emperor Constantine. The parallel between this man and Antiochus IV, the Greek tyrant who tried to snuff out all worship and knowledge of the one true God in Israel, is eerie. Constantine’s conquering “soldiers,” however, were Christian theologians schooled in Alexandria, Egypt, a hotbed of Greek philosophical study. Applying their scholasticism to the most dividing issues in the church, he imposed a cruel theological unity upon the church backed by the power of the state. 
In doing so, compliance to church creeds replaced love as the hallmark of the true believer. From then on, any departure from an approved creed - even when refuted by the plain text of Scripture - defined you as a heretic. Consequently, millions of both Jews and true followers of Yeshua were martyred.
It was at Nicea that the stripping of Christianity from its Hebraic roots began in earnest. The oneness of God, as capsulized in Deuteronomy 6:4, along with the Jewish humanity of Yeshua, were redefined in Greek philosophical terms. The Saturday Sabbath was changed to the Sun’s Day to become the official Christian holy day of rest. The celebration of Yeshua’s resurrection was moved to a week after the Jewish Passover (and later called “Easter”).  And to give this new Gentile religion its own worship places, Constantine soon launched a church building program to rival the synagogues. 
Through it all, Paul’s dire warning went unheeded: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Messiah” (Col. 2:8).
Well, the body of Messiah has been imprisoned in this Greco/Roman dominated church system now for almost two millennium. Will we get a Hanukkah deliverance? Yes, but only as each of us allows the “Maccabee” spirit within us to rise up and renew our mind in the Scriptures, and to cleanse our own temple. But the institutional church system, like the leavened bread of Pharaoh’s Egypt, must be left behind. 
 Isaiah cries to us from across the centuries: “Awake, awake, clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion….Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem. Loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Jerusalem” (Isa. 52:1,2).
Remember too, Antiochus IV, like Constantine, are but types and shadows of the coming Satanically-possessed “man of lawlessness” who will martial a world gone mad to try and  obliterate all worship of God from this earth. He will no doubt appear as a champion and unifier of apostate Christianity and unite it to the State, as did Constantine.  And then, as Antiochus IV did, try to crush the one nation that by its very existence testifies the Lord Almighty lives - Israel. 
What can believers do? We’ve already been told: “Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have no hope; This very day I am declaring I will restore double to you. For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece; And I will make you like a warrior’s sword” (Zech. 9:12,13).
Brian Hennessy is author of Valley of the Steeples
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Thursday, February 18, 2016

Archaeologists Discover 7,000-Year-Old Jerusalem Settlement - CBN NEWS CHARISMA NEWS

During a pre-construction survey prior to building a new road, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists excavated a 7,000-year-old settlement in a northern Jerusalem neighborhood.

Archaeologists Discover 7,000-Year-Old Jerusalem Settlement

Photo above: During a pre-construction survey prior to building a new road, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists excavated a 7,000-year-old settlement in a northern Jerusalem neighborhood. (Courtesy/CBN News)
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During a pre-construction survey prior to building a new road, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists excavated a 7,000-year-old settlement in a northern Jerusalem neighborhood.
IAA archaeologists say the rare find dates to the Chalcolithic period, or the fifth-century B.C., when people began using copper (chalcos in Greek), not just stones, to make tools (lithos in Greek).
The team uncovered two houses and a treasure trove of relics, including well-preserved floors, pottery, beads and tools.
"The Chalcolithic period is known in the Negev, the coastal plain, the Galilee and the Golan, but (it) is almost completely absent in the Judean Hills and Jerusalem," said Dr. Omri Barzilai, head of the IAA's prehistory branch. That makes the find in the predominantly Arab neighborhood of Shuafat even more unusual.
The few traces of settlements during this period have been extremely sparse, Barzilai said, so evidence of a thriving 7,000-year-old settlement in Jerusalem is indeed unique.
Excavation director Ronit Lupo explained the significance of some of the discoveries.
"Apart from the pottery, the fascinating flint finds attest to the livelihood of the local population in prehistoric times: small sickle blades for harvesting cereal crops, chisels and polished axes for building, borers and awls, and even a bead made of carnelian, indicating that jewelry was either made or imported," Lupo said.
"The grinding tools, mortars and pestles, like the basalt bowl, attest to technological skills as well as to the kinds of crafts practiced in the local community," she continued. "We also recovered a few bones of sheep (and) goat(s) and possibly cattle. These will be analyzed further in the Israel Antiquities Authority laboratories, permitting us to recreate the dietary habits of the people who lived here 7,000 years ago and enhancing our understanding of the settlement's economy."
Meanwhile, archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are excavating the remains of a 12,000-year-old village in the Jordan Valley.
The site, named NEG II and located near the middle of a stream flowing west to the Sea of Galilee, has yielded finds from the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic period) and the New Stone Age (Neolithic period), including flint and bone tools and human burial remains.
"It is not surprising that at the very end of the Natufian culture, at a suite of sites in the Jordan Valley, that we find a cultural entity that bridges the crossroads between late Paleolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers," said Hebrew University archaeologist Dr. Leore Grosman, who led the excavation.
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Friday, February 5, 2016

Israeli Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Inscriptions in Jesus' Language - CBN News

Israeli Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Inscriptions in Jesus' Language

01-29-2016 CBN News

Israeli archeologists unearthed Greek and Aramaic inscriptions in northern Israel, suggesting a Jewish presence in the land dating back to the first century.
The three 1,700-year-old epitaphs were discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority Wednesday in a cemetery dating back to the ancient Galilean capital city of Zippori.
"Zippori was the first capital of Galilee from the time of the Hasmonean dynasty until the establishment of Tiberias in the first century CE. The city continued to be central and important later on," researchers explained in a press release announcing the discovery.
So far, researchers have been able to decode one Greek word meaning "Jose," a common Jewish name at the time, and three Aramaic words meaning "the Tiberian," "forever," and "rabbi." The researchers believe that Aramic was the language spoken by Jesus.
Motti Aviam, of the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archeology, said in a statement about the discovery that the inscriptions were surprising.
"One of the surprises in the newly discovered inscriptions is that one of the deceased was called 'the Tiberian,'" said Aviam. "This is already the second instance of someone from Tiberius being buried in the cemetery at Zippori."
However, the discovery has left researchers unsure who "the Tiberian" was. Aviam explained that the researchers have two theories about who "the Tiberian" could be.
First, deceased Galilean Jews could have been brought for burial in the Zippori cemetery because of "the important activity carried out there by the Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi," a second century rabbi who edited post-biblical Jewish traditions.
Aviam also suggested that the "the Tiberian" could simply mean that the man's hometown was Tiberias.
Another surprising find was the Aramaic word "le-olam," meaning "forever." Researchers said that was the first time that word had appeared in Zippori.
"The term le-olam is known from funerary inscriptions in Bet She'arim (in Galilee) and elsewhere and means that the deceased's burial place will remain his forever and that no one will take it from him. Both inscriptions end with the Hebrew blessing 'shalom' (peace)," Aviam explained.
Although the Aramaic inscription mentions a "rabbi," researchers admit that they are unsure what that meant 1,700 years ago in Zippori, a city characterized by its numerous Torah scholars.
The discoveries of the archaeologists and researchers confirm an already extensive knowledge of a Jewish presence in ancient Israel.
Researchers also noted that the Greek inscription of the common Jewish name "Jose" shows that although Aramaic was the primary language, some Jews spoke Greek.
The IAA explained in a press release that their discoveries confirm what they already believed to be a thriving Jewish culture in ancient Zippori and surrounding northern Israel.
"The Jewish life in the city was rich and diverse as indicated by the numerous ritual baths (miqwe'ot) discovered in the excavation; while at the same time the influence of Roman culture was also quite evident as reflected in the design of the town with its paved streets, colonnaded main roads, theater and bathhouses. The wealth of inscriptions from the cemeteries attests to the strong Jewish presence and the city's social elite in the late Roman period," they concluded.
The findings of this excavation contradict the Palestinian Authority's fervent denial of a Jewish connection to the Holy Land and insistence that Israel is "Judaizing" the country.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Rick Joyner: Why is Koinonia So Important for The Great Commission? - The Elijah List

Rick Joyner:
The Elijah List

Rick JoynerWhy is koinonia [fellowship] so important when we are talking about The Great Commission? One reason we have failed to fulfill The Great Commission has been our tendency of making converts rather than disciples. 

The Great Commission is to make disciples. If disciples are not being made, then we are failing in our commission.

What a disciple is has been clearly defined by the Lord. True discipleship is rarely found among Christians today. One reason for this is that true discipleship is not possible without koinonia, as we read in 1 John 1:7, "But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship (koinonia) with one another, and the Blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

As we have covered, this Scripture makes it clear that we simply cannot abide in the light without having koinonia. This is also essential for our cleansing.

I often say jokingly, but truthfully, that we simply cannot mature in Christ the way we are called to without all of the frustrations and irritations of Church life. The frustrations and irritations, the hurts and disappointments, are only a small part of what this experience is meant to be, but they are essential to our development. There are certainly far more positives to experiencing koinonia than negatives, but the challenges help us to mature.

The True Church Life

In Yeshua's Presency by Jennifer PageEither idealism about Church life or rejecting the Church will lead us far from the path of life. True Church life, koinonia, can be one of the most wonderful things we ever experience and one of the most difficult, as is true of any relationship, including marriage. As the Lord taught in the Parable of the Sower, many will depart when testing comes. Many depart from Church, and many are now even departing from marriage when the tests come.

You can never pass a test by quitting.

The breakdown of marriage is related to the breakdown in Church life and vice versa. The same thing that heals one will heal the other as well. The Cross is a vertical post that represents our connection to God and a horizontal one that represents our connection to one another.

One thing that taking up our cross means is that we must have both of these in our lives. Of course, our connection to God eclipses the importance of our connection to one another and must always be kept first. But if we have this and keep it first, we will also have the other. As John also wrote, we cannot love God who we do not see if we do not love our brother who we can see (see I John 4:20-21).

ElijahList Prophetic Resources

So, what can we do to promote koinonia in Church life? First and foremost, we must seek the presence of the Lord above all things. What good is the most glorious temple if God is not in it? Then we need to pursue relationships, not just wait to be pursued. Barnabas had to go and get Paul. Then they needed to get in the right place before either of them could get released into their own ultimate calling.

In those days, this was a supreme effort. It must have taken months for Barnabas to travel to Tarsus and then back to Antioch. Today it is hard to find those who will drive more than thirty minutes to church. What makes something a treasure is that it is either rare or difficult to obtain.

Koinonia is one of the greatest treasures we can have in this life. It is not cheap or easy to find, but it will be found by those who value it enough not to give up on its pursuit. 

The city that God is building, that which Abraham sought, and all true sojourners seek, is built on Jesus with koinonia.

Assembled togetherSeeking the presence of the Lord is far more than seeking His blessings, which so much of the present emphasis of church teaching is based on today. He will bless many things He will not inhabit. When He says that wherever two or more are gathered in His name He will be in their midst (see Matthew 18:20), the word "gathered" does not mean merely occupying the same room or space.

It is where they have been "assembled together" like the parts of a bicycle have been assembled together. This is why we are told to "not to forsake the assembling together" (see Hebrews 10:25). This is not just a warning not to miss meetings, but to not fail to be assembled together as we are called to be.

(Photo via Stock.xchange by Timo Balk, edited by Tawny Nelson)

To build a Church where there is actually Church life, koinonia, we must do things to intentionally promote interchange between members. This can include small groups, church fellowship dinners, mission trips, and various other activities. However, gatherings that really lead to koinonia will center on the presence of the Lord. All others can be helpful in getting to this, but just gathering together for activities can fall far short by themselves.

In every spiritual pursuit, we must keep in mind this principle: Between the place where we receive the promise of God and the promised land, or the fulfillment of the promise, there is almost always a wilderness that is the exact opposite of what we have been promised. This wilderness is meant to prepare us for the promised land. Do not be shaken when you start to pursue koinonia and the opposite seems to happen with relationship challenges breaking out everywhere. This is just a sign that you are indeed on the path.

Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries


Email: info@morningstarministries.org
Website: morningstarministries.org

Rick Joyner is the founder and executive director of MorningStar Ministries and Heritage International Ministries and is the Senior Pastor of MorningStar Fellowship Church. He is the author of more than forty books, including The Final QuestA Prophetic History, and Church History.

He is also the president of The OAK Initiative, an interdenominational movement that is mobilizing thousands of Christians to be engaged in the great issues of our times, being the salt and light that they are called to be. Rick and his wife, Julie, have five children: Anna, Aaryn, Amber, Ben, and Sam.

To subscribe to The Elijah List go to:http://elijahlist.com/subscribe



Monday, February 24, 2014

Tiffany - God Incarnate

Tiffany

Greek Meaning:  In Greek the meaning of the name Tiffany is: Gods incarnate.

American Meaning: In American the meaning of the name Tiffany is: Gods incarnate.



Tuesday, February 11, 2014

The Other Side of the Lake Part 2 by Doug Fortune

The Other Side of the Lake 

- Part 2 by Doug Fortune


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Here is what He said, "Let us go over unto the other side of the lake..." Keep in mind that if Jesus said they were going to the other side, that meant they were absolutely going to the other side. Nothing could stop His words from coming to pass because they originate in the Spirit and they produce life and action that impacts this natural realm! 

The particular wording, "Let us go over" is dierchomai in Greek, and it means to TRAVERSE. Perhaps I am making more of it than should be, but I love that word "traverse!" The word traverse seems to be filled with adventure and destiny, and as we will see, their traverse to the other side of the lake indeed was filled with adventure and destiny. 

Dierchomai is from the Greek words dia and erchomai. The word dia is a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act. The word erchomai has meanings that include - to accompany, appear, bring, come, enter. As I looked through the frequent usage of this word erchomai in the New Testament, it seemed to be used mostly in the context of "persons" coming, appearing, entering; it is used much less frequently in the context of "things" coming. I believe this is significant.

When we put these definitions together, we seem to have this declaration, Let us TRAVERSE as a channel of the act of the PERSON of Christ appearing and entering! I believe that He is calling us today to "Traverse in life as a channel through which the Person of Christ enters our sphere of influence!" 

Traversing Through Life 

He also said where they were going, "Unto the other side of the lake..." The word translated as "unto" is eis in Greek. It is a primary preposition meaning "to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or purpose." The particular wording, "the other side" is peran in Greek, meaning "to 'pierce' through, that is, across, BEYOND, farther." When we put ALL these definitions together, here is the bold declaration, Let us TRAVERSE as a channel through which Christ can pierce through into the BEYOND! 

Friend, I believe that He is calling us today to "Traverse in life as a channel through which the Person of Christ enters our sphere of influence, piercing through obstacles and taking people BEYOND their current experience! 

"And they launched forth..." What are we waiting for? It is time to launch forth into a new dimension of life... Christ is in the "ship" with us and nothing can stop His words from coming to pass. 

Our verse goes on to say, "And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. (Mark 4:36-37) 

I don't know about you, but I do not want to be in one of those "other little ships." I want to be in the ship that Christ is in! 

It seems in life that there are always those in "other little ships" that want to be around Jesus, but do not necessarily want to be in the ship WITH Him. I find it interesting that there is no more mention of those "other little ships" perhaps they did not make it through the storm. 

Talk About Storms 

"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full." I believe that this is perhaps a prophetic picture of the times we are living in. Now then, I am NOT saying we are heading into a storm! I AM saying that there is a lot of TALK about storms and uncertainty! 

It seems that everywhere you turn there are: 

Political storms and uncertainty... Economic storms and uncertainty... Moral storms and uncertainty... The world seems to be full of storms and uncertainty... and it always HAS been! Unfortunately, we tend to look at the past through a lens of nostalgia and longing for a simpler time. 

The trouble is, that time only exists in our memories and imaginations. I have been around long enough to know that there is always something potentially unsettling happening. 

However, those who are wise always come out on top during storms and uncertainty! And why is this?  Because they refuse to let FEAR be their motivator! 

Our verse goes on to say, "...and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full." (Mark 4:36-37) Now then, let's think about this for a moment. What usually happens to a ship that is full of water?  It sinks. Notice, they were NOT sinking! I believe that there was a miracle happening right before their eyes, but they did not see it because of their fear. Friend, you may be going through a storm in your life right now... there may be waves of adversity, waves of doubt, waves of discouragement crashing into your "ship" to the point that it is full. 

However, I want to prophesy over your life that because Christ is in your "ship" you will NOT sink! 

The "point" is really this - What will WE do in the midst of storms and uncertainty?
 
To be continued... 

Doug Fortune
www.dougfortune.org

 
 
 
 
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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Israeli Bible Museum Debuts 'Book of Books' Exhibit

Israeli Bible Museum 

Debuts 'Book of Books' Exhibit

JERUSALEM, Israel -- A unique exhibition of Bible history opened this week at Jerusalem's Bible Lands Museum.
They call it the Book of Books. The museum's latest exhibition traces the history of the Bible and the Jewish roots of Christianity, tracking the story of God's written word from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Gutenberg Bible and beyond.
Bible Lands Museum Director Amanda Weiss says there's no more important city than Jerusalem to host such an exhibit.
"It's the first presentation of this collection of rare and important Bibles and manuscripts and biblical texts looking at the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, together in one exhibition here in Jerusalem," Weiss told CBN News.
"The significance is that we are trying to show the Jewish roots of Christianity," Cary Summers, chief executive of the Green Collection, said.
"We've put in added effort to make it an equally balanced and important exhibition for both a Jewish audience and the Christian world," Weiss said.
"The exhibition begins in the Judean Desert," exhibit curator Heather Reichstadt explained. "We have a representation here of facsimiles of those Dead Sea Scrolls that belong to Amman, Jordan."
Reichstadt says the dispersion of the Jewish people in 70 A.D. sets the stage for the exhibit.
"We move into North Africa where we then start to see introduction of Greek, where you have the Septuagint, it's the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament to Christians in the Greek language," Reichstadt continued. "After that we have the introduction of earliest New Testament text."
The artwork on the walls related directly to the exhibits, and a floor map traces the spread of God's Word throughout the world.
Interactive iPads allow visitors to zoom in on texts like a genealogy from Adam to Christ.
There's even an exact working replica of the 15th century Gutenberg Press, which printed the famous Guttenberg Bible.
"And you have a printed page. You could make several thousand in a day," Reichstadt explained.
"We do end the exhibition with one of the oldest biblical texts known to date…which is a blessing from Numbers 6:24-26, 'May the Lord bless you and keep you….'"
Most of the exhibit comes from the Green family collection, which will one day have a permanent home in Washington, D.C.
Cary Summers, the Green collection's chief executive, says they want to change the notion many people have that the Bible is not readable.
 
"We take on that challenge to provide a means for people to get comfortable reading it," Summers said. "It's literally one of the great, great writes of the world. It's fantastic. It's entertaining. It's mystery. It's everything that good movies are made of -- are found in the Bible."
More: CBN News

Sunday, May 12, 2013

"One New Man" - Bill Supp teaching


Bill Supp


The One New Man is coming, where we are no longer Jew nor Gentile, neither slave or freeman, male or female. For in union with Messiah Yeshua, we are all one. 

Bill Supp shares from the Old and New Testaments how even the Jewish Patriarchs were not fully Jewish, but had Gentile blood in them. i.e  Joseph, who married a Gentile Egyptian, fathered two sons having 50/50 blood. 





In time Boaz, Ruth, and more down the line were Jew and Gentile mixed. (Even Rabab the Harlot, a Jericho resident, became part of the Messianic line.) Very interesting and informative. 


YouTube videos:

"One New Man" - Bill Supp teaching (Part 1 of 3)

"One New Man - Bill Supp teaching (Part 2 of 3)


"One New Man" - Bill Supp teaching (Part 3 of 3)




(Videos recorded by Steve Martin on May 11, 2013 at the One New Man meeting in Charlotte, NC. Warren Marcus, leader.)