TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Michael, where is Jesus now? Is he alive or dead……..what does it matter?

We have shared the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus with you over the course of several different threads, but you have continually denied everything that we presented and I have no doubt that you will deny this. The Bible teaches us to share the Good News Gospel of Jesus Christ……..we take this to heart!

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday afternoon! We’re just about to get one of our afternoon showers! I love to sit out in our screened-in porch when it’s raining! Is there anything better than that fresh smell after a shower?



Jesus is still alive today. He rose bodily from the dead, and He ascended bodily into heaven. Acts 1 recounts how, forty days after the resurrection, Jesus’ disciples were with Him when He suddenly began to rise into the air. They stared in amazement as He kept going and disappeared from sight (Acts 1:9–11). Jesus had predicted that He would return to the Father, and that is exactly what He did (John 14:1–2; John 20:17).

Jesus is alive in heaven with God, the angels, and all those who have trusted in Him for salvation (2 Corinthians 5:8). He sits at the right hand of the Father (Colossians 3:1), “higher than all the heavens” (Ephesians 4:10). “He always lives to intercede” for His followers on earth (Hebrews 7:25). And He promised to return again (John 14:1–2).

Just as Jesus’ spirit never died, neither will our spirits die (John 11:25–26). We will live forever somewhere. How we respond to God’s offer of salvation determines our destiny (John 3:16-18). Jesus told His followers, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). Upon that great hope we can build our lives, knowing that, like our Lord Jesus, we may die, but death is not the end. Got Questions.com

Michael Rich Loc: Lapine Oregon

How can God die?

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

God is alive and well!

Michael Rich Loc: Lapine Oregon

But you believe that Jesus was both God and man.

How can God die?

Did he not fully die, like maybe he halfway died?

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Your spiritual wisdom is indisputable, TexaCan,

"Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last" (Luke 23:46).

He breathed His last physical human breath, however God - Who is immortal Spirit, cannot die, but united with Jesus' glorified resurrection body.

Often overlooked or ignored is the Scriptural explanation of Jesus contained in the doctrine of the hypostatic union. Jesus has two natures: God and man. The hypostatic union is the personal union of Jesus's two natures:

"The hypostatic union is the mysterious joining of the divine and the human in the one person of Jesus." Jesus has two complete natures: one fully human and one fully divine. In other words, Jesus, who was and is fully God, who is Spirit, chose to be born of a woman, became human, and thus, both God and man, simultaneously.

Jesus has all of the characteristics that are true of a person, and all of the characteristics that are true of a divine being.

This is why some scriptures describe His being divine and others point to His being a man. Both are equally true.

Below is a chart from carm.org illustrating the two natures of Jesus, Who is one person, - as derived from scripture.


GOD

He is worshiped (Matt. 2:2, 11; 14:33; 28:9)
He is prayed to (Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 1:1-2)
He was called God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8)
He was called Son of God (Mark 1:1)
He is sinless (1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15)
He knew all things (John 21:17)
He gives eternal life (John 10:28)
The fullness of deity dwells in Him (Col. 2:9)

+ MAN

He worshiped the Father (John 17)
He prayed to the Father (John 17:1)
He was called man (Mark 15:39; John 19:5).
He was called Son of Man (John 9:35-37)
He was tempted (Matt. 4:1)
He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52)
He died (Rom. 5:8)
He has a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39)

This is not a man-made doctrine. It is a doctrine derived from God’s word.
It is true that God cannot die. It is also true that man can die. But Jesus has two natures – not one.
It was the human nature of Jesus that died on the cross – Never the divine, - for God is immortal Spirit.

He is both God and man in one person and because He was sinless, His sacrifice is sufficient to cover the sins of the world... all who choose to believe, accept His sacrificial death on their behave, repent, and follow Him.

Praise His Holy Name, Yeshua ha Mashiach, Jesus Christ/Messiah.

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

If you can’t answer these questions after all the conversations over the last few weeks……….LOL!…………You haven’t been paying attention! 😉

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Amen and Amen!

MARANATHA

Michael Rich Loc: Lapine Oregon

I pay attention, it's that a pagan man-god story isn't powerful enough to be my God.

My God cannot die!

A God who prays to himself?

A God who had to ask himself why he was forsaking himself?

The only way the myth can work, is if there are two beings.

But there is only One God and he's not skitzoid.

Roman religious beliefs have always included virgin births..

Romulus and Remus twin brother's...who tradition tells us that they were born a virgin and were raised by wolves on the site where Rome was founded.

In ancient Egypt, Ra, the sun god was born of a virgin.....Horus was the son of the Virgin Isis.

The Phrygo-Roman god, Attis was born of a virgin, Nana, on December 25th. It resonates because he went on to be killed and "Resurrected".

Greece had its virgin story; Dionysus.

The aren't many nations throughout ancient history that didn't have a Mythical virgin birth story.

It's a Gentile thing.

The Israelite scriptures were changed to a virgin birth myth when Rome had a stranglehold on translation.

Virgin birth story's are a common thread in the pagan religion beliefs...along with a dying savior man-god myth.

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

God gave to each of us Free Will……..you have made you choice! So be it! 🙏🏻

Have a wonderful day!

Michael Rich Loc: Lapine Oregon

Thank you, and you as well.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

In the Bible, God references a plumb line. In Isaiah 28:16-17 God says, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone… a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. And I will make justice the line and righteousness the plumb line." God says that justice and righteousness are the standard by which His people will be measured.

God's moral law is the plumb line against which we determine right and wrong (John 17:17). Just as a carpenter's plumb line is not subject to the opinions or the frustration of the worker, so God's moral standards are not subject to the opinions of man.

Calvin, Luther and Wesley, each fell short of the perfection of God's plumbline, aka, His rule of measure 1st set forth in His Holy Word, but subsequently God had sent forth visibly, in bodily human form His Divine Son, Jesus Christ who for the benefit of all mankind, perfectly adhered to that plumbline for thirty three years.

Each of these three protestant Christian men you revile preached salvation through Jesus Christ and were important stepping stones in shining forth the long obscured Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to break the demonic bondage that held millions of human souls captive to the monstrosity of paganized Roman Catholicism.

For centuries, the Roman Catholic Institution has been ruled by a Pope, each claiming to be the symbol of Christlike wholesomeness and the moral voice to the world’s pressing political and social issues. However, despite their claim of being the righteous and ethical leader of all world Christendom, they have each exhibited the influence that exudes forth from the pits of hell.

Pope Pius XII (1939-1958)
He was an epitome of merciless and cruel nature and indeed an insane personality. He was known to be Hitler’s Pope. This insane and evil pope suggested Hitler the use of such barbaric ways to execute non-Catholic minorities including setting individuals on fire, cannibalism, live dismemberment of body parts and beating up with those parts until death. Not only did his hideous nature account for this, he also aided the war criminals of Croatia under the name of Catholic Ustashi and committed mass murders of more than 600,000 people which make it really hard to realize the magnitude of his malevolent and sinister nature. Thus he tops the list of the most evil pope in the history of mankind.

Damasus I (366-384)
People who lived during Damasus’s rule saw an astringent day where ladies and youngsters were purchased and sold as slaves to build funds for the congregation at Damasus’ church. The individuals who resisted the domineering principle of Damasus would be tormented and truly blazed alive after their properties were seized and utilized for chapel assigned purposes. More awful fact is that the ladies forced into prostitution were not generally basic subjects of Rome, but rather female ministers and nuns themselves.

John XII (937-964)
From taking to the throne at a mere age of eighteen, it was never going to be a great start for Pope John XII. His young heart was not ready for the life of a Pope and soon transformed his residence into a brothel. Going further down the rabbit hole, he took part in murdering, invoking demons, and even having sexual relations with his sisters. His promiscuity ended up being his demise however after a husband caught his wife in bed with John XII and beat the pope so badly, that he died three days later from his injuries.

Boniface VIII (1294-1303)
A famous and horrifying quote of Boniface VIII was that paedophilia was no more problematic than “rubbing one hand against the other.” Elected in 1294, Boniface VIII established a string of statues all around the city and even destroyed the city Palestrina over a personal feud. He had a reputation for stubbornness and a knack for starting fights.

Benedict IX (1032-1048)
Benedict IX was pope on 3 separate occasions during his lifetime, with the first being when he was just 12 years old. He grew to be a wicked boy and ran from the position to hide within the city when political opponents tried to murder him. In the time between his reigns, he started thieving, murdering and committing other ‘unspeakable deeds’ throughout the city. He became pope again in 1045, which only last a rough 2 months before someone paid him to leave. Two years after leaving a second time, he tried again, lasting only eight months this time before he was eventually driven out to never return again.

Alexander VI (1492-1503)
Alexander VI started off with his papacy with a defying bang, only getting the position of Pope by bribing his fellow cardinals. Before becoming Pope, he was a member of Borgias, the Italian crime family, and his attitude did not change after becoming Pope. During his time, multiple conspiracies and dishonesty surrounded him and his decisions. As well as being a conniving pope in politics, he was also a promiscuous one. He fathered at least nine children that we know of and was famous for hosting a series of orgies throughout his reign, with one being named ‘Joust of Whores.’ He gets even worse when you see the multiple reports where Alexander VI engaged in incest with his daughter, Lucrezia.

Sergius III (904-911)
Sergius III didn’t just kill the Pope prior to him, but he also killed the pope before that, timing his arrival to reign perfectly. He then used his power to set up his son, Pope John XI, fathered by his 15-year-old prostitute mistress, to be Pope twenty years after him.

Leo X (1475-1521)
Leo X is famous for his lavish spending during his reign, becoming a patron of the arts who commissioned the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica. After the church’s wallet got a bit lighter, Leo X then convinced believers they could buy their way to heaven, selling indulgences that would reduce their sins.

Stephen VI (896-897)
This Pope started off his reign with a grisly show, digging up his predecessor, the Pope Formosus, and displaying his dead body to stand trial. Formosus’s limp body was propped up on a throne as Stephen VI shouted unanswerable questions at it, accusing him of blasphemy during his supremacy. Unsurprisingly, the dead pope lost, and his body was flung into the Tiber River. Later, however, the body was recovered from the river and given a proper burial by Formosus’ followers. Stephen VI was later imprisoned and strangled to death by Formosus’ supporters.

Sixtus IV (1471-1484)
Sixtus IV started his reign in 1471 and is primarily remembered for commissioning the Sistine Chapel. Despite this stunning creation, it did not overshadow his sins, for he was known to have a large sexual appetite during his time as pope. He had six illegitimate children, with one a result of incest with his sister. Despite his sexual indulgences, he was quite the hypocritic, and strictly policed others. Creating a tax on prostitutes and charging priests who had mistresses.

Innocent VIII (1484-1492)
Innocent VIII was not so innocent! He was the very first pope in existence to openly confirm his illegitimate children, which was around eight kids at the time, with speculation of it growing. Before his open admission, these bastards were simply known as the Pope’s ‘nephews.’ He was also known to be a big supporter of witch hunting, blessing the act in 1484.

Julius II (1503-1513)
Starting his reign in 1503, Julius II was known for being domineering, hot-headed, and a manic at times. But by far his worst feature was his severe case of Syphilis, contracting it via prostitutes. It was documented that on Good Friday, his feet were so covered by sores that no one was able to kiss them.

Paul IV (1555-1559)
Known as one of the worst Popes for his horrific acts of anti-semitism. Instead of being the moral symbol of the Church, Paul IV instead created a Jewish ghetto in a section of the Roman city. Forcing Jewish citizens to publicize themselves by wearing yellow hats. He was such a hated Pope, that after his death, citizens celebrated by tearing down statues of him throughout the city.

Why Do Catholics Believe Peter Was the First Pope?

They teach a works righteousness and commit idolatry with Mary, but what about their false teaching of the pope?

1. The Roman Catholic church [system] sees Peter as the first pope on which Christ would build His church [Matt. 16:18].

They teach that Peter is the “rock.”

Biblical Response: Anyone who reads Matthew 16:15-18 carefully sees that the rock on which Jesus built His church was Peter’s confession of faith in Him. The Greek word for rock means “boulder” while Peter means “small stone.”

2. They teach Peter had authority over the other Apostles.

Biblical Response: There is no teaching in Scripture where Peter in over the other Apostles. There is no mention of the office of pope anywhere in Scripture [Eph. 2:19-20; 4:11-12; 1 Peter 5:1; or I & 2 Timothy or Titus].

3. They teach that Peter became the first bishop of Rome when he went to Rome and that the early church accepted him as such.

Biblical Response: Interestingly Paul makes no mention of Peter as pope in Romans 1:1, 7. There is no clear teaching in Scripture that Peter ever went to Rome. They get it from 1 Peter 5:13 where Peter refers to Babylon meaning Rome [code language for protection].

4. The Catholic system teaches that God passed Peter’s apostolic authority to the following bishops which are referred to as “apostolic succession.”

Biblical Response: The office of Apostle ceased with the death of John. Apostleship was foundational and temporary to the church [Ephesians 2:19-20; 4:11-12]. Bishops in the NT were never over a collection of churches but one church.

5. They teach that Peter and the following popes were infallible and can guide the church without error.

Biblical Response: Peter was not infallible because Paul had to correct him in Galatians 2:11-13 in regard to compromising with the Judaizers over circumcision. Peter was married [1st Corinthians 9:5; Matthew 8:14] and popes are not to marry according to Catholics. There is only one head of the church and it is the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ, not the pope [1st Peter 2:25; 1st Timothy 2:5].

Why are you waiting for God to reveal truth He revealed 2,000 years ago?

Codification is the act or process of codifying or reducing laws to a code [1913 Webster]. There is no further "codification" required than that which God has revealed through His completed Canon of Scripture consisting of the 27 books of the New Testament, the last of which was completed in 96 A.D. These were added to the 39 books of the Old Testament for a total of 66.

Nothing more is required, other than a professed faith in, and life submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Calvin and Luther and Wesley have completed their race. Only God can judge the sincerity of their faith in Jesus Christ.

Look to your own salvation.

Armageddun Loc: The show me state

Amen and Amen. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. So many think of God in human terms but the Bible says with God nothing shall be impossible.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Those Pagan Virgin Birth Stories Evaporate
1st Response: By James Scott Trimm

Anti-Missionaries, Atheists and other critics have spread far and wide a false claim that the virgin birth doctrine was borrowed from paganism. The fact is that this claim is an outright lie. A close examination of the alleged origins/births of the pagan gods these persons claim were “virgin births” shows that not one of these pagan gods was supposed to be the result of a virgin birth.

Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis. Isis was impregnated by Osiris after she gathered the parts of the dismembered body of her husband Osiris and resurrected him. In the oldest accounts of the story, she retrieved the whole body, but in later versions she could not locate his male member and so she fashioned a new member for him out of gold. There was no indication that Isis was a virgin, and the gold member was by implication fully functional. Horus did not have a virgin birth.

The myth of the origin of Attis begins with the daemon Agdistis. Agdistis initially had both male and female genitalia. But the Olympian gods, fearing Agdistis, castrated the male member and cast it away. An almond-tree grew up from the male member, and when its fruit was ripe, Nana (a daughter of the river-god Sangarius), picked an almond from the tree and laid it in her bosom. It then disappeared, and she became pregnant with Attis. There is no indication in the myth that Nana was a virgin, and her impregnation resulted from a seed which came forth from a male member, so there is no virgin birth here either.

Dionysus was born to the mortal woman Semele and the Greek god Zeus… but since Zeus’ wife Hera discovered that Zeus was having an affair with Semele, this is certainly not a virgin birth, but a very physical, sexual relationship between Zeus and Semele which resulted in her pregnancy.

Krishna was also not the result of a virgin birth. In fact Krishna was the eighth child of the union of his mother and
father. That’s right, Krishna’s mother was not only not a virgin, but she had seven sons before Krishna!

The original story of Mithra’s origin had Mithra crawling out of a rock. Now unless the rock was a virgin, then there is no virgin birth here either. There was a later Roman Mithra cult, and this later version of Mitha (known as Mithras) was born thru a form of artificial insemination, when his mother bathed in water in which his father’s semen had been preserved. Even if we take this as a virgin birth, this Mithra cult did not exist yet at the time of Yeshua’s birth. So if this was a virgin birth, then it might have been copied from the birth of Yeshua, but it could not have been the other way around.

None of these pagan gods were alleged to be the result of a virgin birth, and thus the virgin birth of Yeshua was not simply copied from paganism.


2nd Response: by Ken Symes | Jewish Awareness Ministries/Israel’s Messenger

Today, the Jewish rabbis, along with many Christian leaders, do not believe that Isaiah 7:14 teaches that the Messiah was to be “virgin” born.

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin [almah] shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

As the Bible is of no private interpretation, 2 Peter 1:20, it follows that the Bible interprets itself. The process is simple. You compare all the scriptures related to a given issue and you will discover that you have found God’s truth when all of those scriptures harmonize. In the case before us, the conflict revolves around two issues: the meaning of the Hebrew word “almah,” and to whom the sign was to be given.

VIRGIN

According to the rabbis, the Hebrew word translated “virgin” in our text always means “young woman of marriageable age.” This particular word is used only seven times in the Tenach (Old Testament): Genesis 24:43; Exodus 2:8; Psalm 68:25; Song of Solomon 1:3 and 6:8; Proverbs 30:19 and Isaiah 7:14. It is never used of a non-virgin! Furthermore, in Isaiah 7:14, the Hebrew has the definite article “ha,” “the,” before “almah.” The Hebrew word “ha” tells us that this is a specific person: “the” virgin.

A second word is sometimes translated “virgin,” but does not necessarily mean “virgin” as the modern rabbis would have us believe. “Bethulah” is used some 50 times in the Tenach and there are times when this word, often translated virgin(s), needs clarification. And in Joel 1:8 bethulah is used of a married woman: “Lament like a virgin [bethulah] girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.”

In Genesis 24:16 Rebekah is described as bethulah: “And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin [bethulah], neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.”

Notice that “bethulah” is qualified to indicate it means virgin – neither had any man known her. But, in verse 43 of the same chapter, in the retelling of the event by the servant in the home of Rebekah’s brother Laban, she is described as “almah”: “Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin [almah] cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink.”
Why? Not one of the times the word “almah” is used does it mean anything other than a virgin. Clearly, “bethulah” and “almah” can be used interchangeably, as they are in Genesis 24. It is interesting that Rashi (1040-1105 A.D.) wrote, “Behold the almah shall conceive and bare a son and shall call his name Immanuel. This means that our Creator shall be with us. And this is the sign: the one who shall conceive is a girl (naarah), who never in her life has had intercourse with any man. Upon this shall the Holy Spirit have power.” (Mikraoth Gedoloth on Isaiah 7:14).

The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew text around 275 B.C.) translated the verse: “Behold a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel.”

“This is Messiah,” says Rabbi Hona (Zohar, in Gen. Fol. -3,4, written about 1306 A.D.). Bible believing Christians are in agreement with the ancient rabbis. “Almah” is correctly translated “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14.

THE SIGN

In Isaiah 7:10-12, God, through His prophet, said to Ahaz: “Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God.” In verse 12, Ahaz refused to ask, using Deuteronomy 6:16 as his excuse, showing that he already had made up his mind to trust in Assyria. At this point, the Lord redirects to whom the sign would be given. He now makes “the house of David,” not Ahaz, the recipient. Notice that the antecedent of “you” in verse 14 is the “house of David” in the previous verse. The Hebrew term, “lakem,” translated “to you” is in the plural form and designates: “given to you but fulfilled later.”

The sign would involve an unusual birth, a “virgin” birth (verse 14b). The rabbis, for a long time now, have sought to teach that this sign would be the birth of Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz. But, that could not possibly be true. In 2nd Kings 18:2 we learn that Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign. Which was in the third year of the reign of Hoshea as King of Samaria. 2nd Kings 17:1 states: “In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judea began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.”

It is historically accepted that the third year of Hoshea’s reign is 729 B.C. Hezekiah is 25 at this time, which makes his birth year 754 B.C. Most Bible chronologies place Ahaz’ reign beginning at 743-44 B.C., and the events of Isaiah 7 at 740 B.C. Hezekiah was already alive, and probably 14 years old, based on these dates. As the sign is an unusual birth, a child born of a virgin, the child could not possibly be Hezekiah.

An examination of Isaiah 7:14, and the word “almah,” shows the word is translated correctly in all versions that translate “almah” as “virgin.” The virgin shall conceive was fulfilled through Mary, the mother of Jesus, Matthew 1:18-23.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Thank you, Armageddun, (James 5:8)

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
This is the most concise biblical definition of "faith."

Only God, the Holy Spirit, can explicitly convince anyone of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thus, the biblical definition of faith means trusting in something you know in your inner most being to be true without having been an eyewitness.

Michael Rich Loc: Lapine Oregon

Long winded sermons based on Christian translations makes for a redundant false interpretation of the original text.

You should do an exhaustive research of key words that were changed to fit your pagan narrative. The difference between Almah and the real Hebrew word for virgin "Betulah" would be a good start.

Most Christians don't have the courage to read the Hebrew and compare it to their beliefs.