Join Ric Joyner of Bible Study Company and Baruch Korman from LoveIsrael.org for an engaging discussion about the millennial kingdom and its significance. How will Israel be involved in the millennial kingdom, and what role will Christians play? Dr. Baruch wrote a book called The Coming King (https://amzn.to/4aCFezk) to discuss the Millennial Kingdom reign of Christ on earth. The book link is in the body of the story, and so is the agenda.
Link for the book: https://amzn.to/4aCFezk
Donation link for bible study company: https://biblestudycompany.com/#
If you are in need of being saved https://biblestudycompany.com/blog/article/81
Loveisrael course on studying the Bible. https://loveisrael.thinkific.com/courses/how-to-study-the-bible-properly
Here are the topics! 00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:43 The Book The Coming King
00:00:55 Love Israel Bible study course
00:01:52 End times timelines
00:02:16 Persecution of Jews is growing
00:03:52 Watch Israel the Fig Tree
00:04:27 Three End times indicators
00:06:57 Because Israel rejected God, are they still in play?
00:12:31 There is only Salvation in Christ 00:13:32 Understanding the Sovereignty of God
00:15:36 Does God cause us to be born again before we can be born again?
00:16:23 Rise of Antisemitism
00:18:37 How many Arabs vs Israelis were in Israel in 1948?
00:20:27 How thorough the book is on the prophetic timelines
00:21:47 Why did Israel have so many problems?
00:22:17 Pornography in the temple
00:23:58 The church is no longer contrite over their sin
00:25:06 People want to reject the Millennial Kingdom, so why?
00:27:02 What is Daniel at 69 weeks?
00:27:57 Explaining Messiah Cut off has to do with death for a covenant
00:29:42 Explaining the time of the Gentiles
00:31:16 Defining the word Tribulation
00:32:09 All 7 years of Tribulation is not God's wrath
00:33:10 Tribulation Wrath of God begins in Chapter 8 of Revelation
00:34:38 Times of the Gentiles has to do with Daniel
00:35:52 Explaining "All Israel will be saved"
00:37:20 All Israel means a remnant of saved and unsaved
00:42:12 Where in the prophetic timeline does the rapture happen?
00:43:36 Abomination of Desolation
00:45:02 How do we know a seal or trumpet or bowl happened?
00:45:42 The rapture occurs sometime after the abomination of desolation
00:46:04 The horses explained 00:49:32 What is the purpose of the millennial kingdom?
00:51:06 God set up a Kingdom on Earth 1000 years ago, and people still rebel
00:52:14 Millennial kingdom is for Israel to finally obey God
00:53:38 When Satan is released at the end of the 1000 years
00:56:22 Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot change
00:58:30 What is the true purpose of worship?
01:00:06 Sacrifices restarted?
01:00:36 How is one saved in the millennial kingdom?
01:02:46 Seeing Jesus is not a problem for salvation
01:02:59 Sacrifices in the Millennial Kingdom
01:05:22 Who are the different groups in the millennial kingdom
01:07:53 Remnants of people
01:09:57 The Church, like Israel, has failed too
01:10:24 The main message of the Millennial Kingdom is how great a savior is our Lord Jesus Christ
01:11:22 Great White Throne Judgment
01:12:13 How will the first temple be built with the Mosques on the temple mount?
01:13:00 What is the abomination of desolation
01:14:38 Timing of Rapture. No one knows, but there are clues
01:16:31 Is partial preterism?
01:23:29 Ending prayer
See full post & comments#blessed #good #goodbibleteaching #jesus #Jesuschrist #godsword #godswill
What is a blessing from God? Why do we use it so casually?
We will give you a definition of Good, Blessing, and God's will.
Here is a book on God's will by Charles Stanely https://amzn.to/4hrUHEK
What if blessing directly results from working to find God's will and acting on it in His word?
Donate to Biblestudycompany https://biblestudycompany.com/#
00:00 Introduction to Good Bible Teaching
00:16 What is a blessing?
00:41 Definition of blessing
00:52 Good is Genesis 1
01:03 Good is according to God's will
01:14 Bible Study Company definition from scripture of blessing
01:39 Discipleship is arduous
01:51 Are we seeking after God's will
02:05 God's will is found in His word
02:25 Also a definition of Grace as well
02:37 Titus 2
03:02 What is lawlessness aka without the Bible
See full post & comments
Ric Joyner is not affiliated with Rick Joyner of Morningstar Mn. There is a significant age difference and Rick is older than I am. Ric Joyner of Bible Study Company believes in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, some sign gifts have ceased. Rick Joyner believes that God speaks through prophets today, and Ric Joyner of BSC believes God speaks through the Bible. We believe in yielding to the Holy Spirit to accomplish God's will versus our will and desires. Doing so advances God's agenda. A statement of faith from a friend's church is here. A full statement of faith is coming. Here is my full bio. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricjoyner/
I found Rick Joyner's bio.
Folks, our latest podcast, Matthew 6:9, is the guideline the Lord gave the Apostles on praying and the hearers on the Mt of Beatitudes. We created a pdf for this Bible Study in Matthew, which is located here. https://biblestudycompany.com/laravel-filemanager/files/121/Prayer_outline.pdf
We recommend going for a walk or in your time with the Lord to work through the outline, which teaches you how to pray for advancing God's Will in our lives and those we need to pray for their needs.
For the audio, it is here: https://biblestudycompany.simplecast.com/episodes/matthew-6-part-2
See full post & comments
Warning: BSC is not advocating the celebration of Easter over Passover. We understand that Easter, or as some call it to avoid the word Easter, is Resurrection Day rather than Passover week celebration, which will be explained in the article. We believe all must do their own research. That helps in our Bible study. Being a good researcher is critical to arrive at the correct conclusions. We intend to only accept narratives by doing the research ourselves, and our purpose is never to offend. However, going against narratives to get to the truth will produce offenses. We apologize in advance.
Not long ago, I was sitting with someone I respect. He said, “Easter is pagan." I inquired as to how he arrived at that knowledge, and he mentioned something about the goddess Ishtar and Easter being the same. I said Easter was a Germanic word for spring, so how could it be Ishtar? Biblical History scholar Wes Huff shows clearly that Easter does not have pagan roots. https://youtu.be/q31k28_rdTg?si=uqNyQHH5ruFBbbqR
It's commonly asserted that many of our modern Easter traditions — including the name of the celebration itself — have pagan origins. This idea, although popular on the internet and in popular shows, when actually dug into (much like the accusation around the pagan origins of Christmas) really start to fall apart. "Why Christmas isn't pagan" -
• Christmas isn't pagan and here's why Time stamps: 0:00 - Intro 0:29 - Origins of the name (Ishtar and Ostara) 4:44 - The Easter bunny 7:09 - Easter eggs
No, Easter is not pagan today. "Well, Ric, when I searched on Google for the origins of Easter, it showed that it had pagan roots." "Ah, the Internet," I said with a frustrated sigh. To be correct, we must dig deeper as researchers. Easter is not from a pagan goddess. Ishtar was a Babylonian goddess that "SOUNDS LIKE" Easter; however, there is no link in etymology, as the article below will show.[1]
Here is a humorous video from Lutheran Satire on this topic.
This article explains the background of Easter from Baylor University. "Well, Ric, what about Easter bunnies and eggs? Aren't they pagan?" They are not pagan, and they are recent modern inventions. The article provides details.
https://news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2016/why-easter-was-never-anything-christian-holiday
After reading the article, we continue studying why Christians celebrate Easter Sunday.
A Time for the Gospel
Those against Easter and Christmas have the same talking points. "Christmas and Easter are pagan." The assumption is that a good Christian will not celebrate Easter at this time of the year because someone said it is pagan, or worse, soneone who does Celebrate Easter are worshipping pagan deities.
Worshipping pagan deities is a serious charge. When one worships a pagan god, there are several rituals of literal worship. Today, I had lunch with a friend who shared that his definition of pagan is consumerism—which he defined as buying easter eggs, the stores marking up eggs in the store, and buying candy and toy bunnies. In Jeremiah, there are several instances of pagan worship. Jeremiah 7:18 For Easter and Christmas, we see no one worshipping deities as defined by pagans. I think people project consumerism as paganism, but this is not the case. Consumerism is a heart issue and cannot be judged from the outside.
If these accusations are not true about Easter, is there a problem of laziness because of a lack of research on our part? Worse, if a group in our circle of influence believes this and we do not know why they think this is true, are we giving into a type of adult peer pressure? A passionate argument about "Easter is pagan" can come from good motivation, but the person echoing this comment may not have done any research. The person does not want to offend God. Good idea. However, if proper research is done, we will find that the concerns are not valid to actual history. Why are people sharing about something they have not researched?
We can be at peace to celebrate Easter because Christ's resurrection gave us peace with God. What if the result is to focus on not celebrating Easter because it is pagan, and we lose an opportunity to share why we celebrate Easter and do not present the Gospel? Like Christmas, this time of the year is to celebrate the Gospel.
Another close friend came to Christ just over a year and prayed for his family to come to the knowledge of salvation. His youngest sister shared with him that she had no idea Easter was about the Lord Jesus Christ, and she was unchurched. My friend used the opportunity to share the Gospel, and she came to Christ! Three weeks later, she died of a heart attack! Christmas and Easter are a time to focus on Christ and what He did for us on that horrid tree.
Others believe Easter is pagan and tell us not to celebrate Easter for another reason: to celebrate the Jewish Passover.
Should a Christian celebrate Passover (Jewish) or Easter (Christian)?
Now that we have settled that Easter is not pagan, we can move on to another problem. Our faith in Christ has Jewish roots. The Jewish nation was founded on leaving Egypt as slaves to become a nation around their belief in God. To leave Egypt, they performed the Passover meal of the lamb. But first, those who believed in God were warned that the Destroyer would come and kill the firstborn children throughout the land. To prevent the Destroyer from visiting their homes, the Hebrews had to kill, eat and sprinkle the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. Believing in God's word and acting on it caused the Destroyer to "Passover" the house. Therefore, up to 1.5-2.5 million, people left Egypt.[2] The Jews were to celebrate Passover every year. The feast is called “unleavened bread” because the Jews left Egypt quickly without leavening their bread. Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on the Passover without sin (because He is God) and was designated the Passover lamb. Exodus 12.
Yet, for some reason, Christians celebrate Easter versus Passover. Why should that be? Simply because of calendars, the resurrection, and unleavened bread.
Christians view the first day of the week (Sunday) as the day Christ rose from the dead and therefore call it "the Lord’s Day." The celebration of Easter is not linked to the Jewish calendar but to a day. Sunday became the traditional day for worship for Christians (Jews and Gentiles in Christ), although many celebrated the Sabbath and still do. It was natural to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday. The resurrection symbolizes Christ's defeat of sin and death. We can find records of the early church celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday, the first day of the week. We can also find documents that both Jews and Gentiles kept the Sabbath and also worshipped on the Lord’s Day. Acts 20:7-12
Judaism celebrates Passover because they do not accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Some Jewish people who believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah will still honor the Passover. "Remember, Ric, that Passover is not the end of the story," said Dr. Daniel Goepfrich. He paused and continued, "The resurrection is the end of the story, which is why we celebrate the resurrection." (paraphrase)
Jewish people also use a calendar based on the new moon, which can include Passover and unleavened bread during the week. In other words, Judaism is not tied to celebrating the Passover on any given day, such as Sunday, but does celebrate Passover on the 14th day of Nissan, which can be a different day of the week each year. Notice that Passover is a weeklong celebration, and Christianity instead focuses on the day of His resurrection.
Let’s Review
Christians believe that the feast of unleavened bread, which removes sin in our lives because we exchange His righteousness for our sinfulness, was fulfilled in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who made atonement with His sinless blood for all mankind. Jesus is the Passover lamb. In Contrast, the Passover focuses on the Exodus of Egypt (a type and shadow of what the Lord Jesus Christ would fulfill), which now finds fulfillment in Christ's resurrection. Heb 7:26-8:5.[3] Christians focus on Easter Sunday because they recognize Christ as the Messiah, and Christ’s resurrection is Sunday, the first day of the week. Mark 16:9
Why don't Christians celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread? The symbolism of yeast is sin. Therefore, in preparation for Passover, one must remove sin in one's life by cleaning one's house of all things touched, or that might have been touched by yeast (ovens, utensils, mixing bowls, etc.). If you have ever tried to go a week without yeast products, it is tough to accomplish. A person cannot work hard enough to have sin/yeast removed from their life. We are thankful for the Lord Jesus's sacrifice as the Passover lamb to wash our sins away with His blood. Therefore, this feast is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We ask the final question: is Easter pagan? No. Should Christians celebrate Passover? We found that immersing ourselves in learning how Christ fulfilled most feasts is a beneficial experience. Seder meals (like the Last Supper) are informative for Christian believers to understand that Christianity is rooted in Judaism. The focus of Passover is the blood on the doorposts. The subject of Easter Sunday is the blood of Christ on the cross to forgive our sins and that He has risen from the dead, causing our sin debt to God to be "finished," as Christ said on the cross. Christ rose from the dead and was witnessed by over 500 people, and then the Holy Spirit came in Acts two, which is our promise of eternal life. 1 Cor 15:6. No other person in history was raised from the dead. 1 Cor 15:13. Our God has risen!
We can focus on the Passover, which points to the lamb's blood in Egypt, or believers in Christ can celebrate the fulfillment of Passover on Easter Sunday, a day (rather than a week) of Christ's resurrection! And if you like, add Easter bunnies and cute eggs for kids that point them to new life in Christ as a teaching tool, as these are a modern invention.
Enjoy your holiday. People are open this season to know what Easter is about, so share the Good News! Christ has risen!
[1] Owen Jarus 01 February 2014, “Ishtar Gate: Grand Entrance to Babylon,” livescience.com, September 22, 2022, https://www.livescience.com/43036-ishtar-gate.html#:~:text=The%20Ishtar%20Gate%2C%20named%20after.
[2]Liz Abrams and Troy Lacey, “Did 600,000 Men Leave Egypt with Moses?,” Answers in Genesis (Answers in Genesis, September 20, 2022), https://answersingenesis.org/bible-questions/did-600000-men-leave-egypt-moses/.
[3] Nissan Dubov, “Pesach,” Chabad.org (Chabad), accessed March 23, 2023, https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2313774/jewish/The-Jewish-Festivals.htm.
Introduction: We never infer that one should or should not celebrate Christmas. This article is for people to know Christmas's factual, researched historical background. The word Christmas was not invented until @1000 ad. This word is a Roman Catholic term and has no bearing on the birth of our Savior. The angels in heaven celebrated the birth of our Savior in Luke 2. This time of the year is about the Gospel for the lost. That was the point of Christ's coming. Has God supernaturally provided a time for people to hear the Gospel? We think so. When one hears that Christmas is pagan, this article should help you decide. Blessings.
By Biblestudycompany.com Ric Joyner
We will state upfront that Christmas is not a biblical holiday. But it is not unbiblical to celebrate the birth of Christ. We should also not equalize materialistic Christmas with our Savior's advent (coming). The Old Testament prophesized the birth of the Savior to come. The current secular traditions of Santa, who has almost god-like qualities and manipulates kids to "further fantasize" a jolly old man who can give all children on earth toys or even an "elf on the shelf" that watches how they behave, is unbiblical. Still, some feel it is acceptable to create a myth around Santa Claus while children are young. We disagree. It is always best to be honest with children about Santa.
Giving presents at this time of the year is not wrong because the Magi gave Christ's family gifts in worship to the young boy Messiah. These gifts were providential because they provided money and helped the family flee to Egypt. Consumerism and greed are wrong and sinful, but only the Holy Spirit can lead you to that truth, and He knows your heart. Grace-filled gifts that point people to a saving and loving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ are essential during this time of year.
Frustration mounts as we approach this time of year in the Christmas season because of the Internet. Shouts of "Christmas is pagan" escalate into a crescendo with arguments against Christmas on social media and by some bible teachers. But could these be a veiled attack on the Gospel in the name of "we don't want to be idolators?" Therefore, is the theory that Christmas is pagan or from pagan sources accurate? Or is the reverse true? In this article, we aim to get to the historical truth in our research. Don't accept what others teach, not even your favorite Bible teachers, without researching. I did mine. And you can verify it. We think there are ulterior motives to capture and captivate Christians into doing "other" holidays or even attack people who do not believe Christmas is pagan.
Matthew Chapters 1-2 highlights
Simeon's prophecy Luke 2:30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel."
Luke Chapters 1 and 2. Pay attention to what the angels say a couple of times: "Good news," translated as the same word…Gospel. The birth of Christ was good news for Jews because their long-awaited Messiah was finally here, and the prophecy was being fulfilled. We write this paper 2,000 years later for Gentiles, grateful that the apostles preached the Gospel to us: Good news: Christ came as a child to break the back of sin and death and allowed us Gentiles an eternal "home" and become children of God! Gentiles are not part of the nation of Israel, but we are part of God's family! (Eph Chap 1-4) We celebrate the birth of Christ because of the Gospel!
Read John 1 for a view from heaven of why Christ came.
"9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the intention of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. We saw His glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."
If it is, then are you a pagan for celebrating the day of Christ's birth? The historical false proof that Christmas is pagan is thrown at you with overwhelming emotional authoritarianism. Is emotionalism based on biblical truth? How about historical facts? We know the origin of Christmas (birth of Christ) is biblical. The story of our Savior starts with His birth because the prophets mentioned He was coming. We suspect the anti-Christmas vehemence is agenda-driven. We ask this question because born-again believing Christians are not worshipping pagan deities by participating in the birth of Christ called Christmas today. I spoke to a Torah-keeping brother who said, "Yes, Christmas is pagan." I asked how that could be, and he shared, "When you put a present under the tree, you are 'bowing' down to the tree." I was stunned. The logic he displayed defied logic. Yeah, no. Worshipping a pagan deity requires one to engage the diety knowingly.
In our research, there were pagan celebrations that started around the time of 274 AD, but they appear to be in response to Christians in Rome celebrating the birth of Christ! We then ask what came first, the "chicken or the egg?" "However, it has also been argued that, on the contrary, Emperor Aurelian, who in 274 instituted the holiday of the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, did so partly as an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already important for Christians in Rome.[76]
Is the nearness of a pagan holiday make Christmas pagan? When I sift through the concerns of 'Christmas is pagan,' people, did you know there was a pagan holiday at this time? We will deal with this later, but does that make celebrating the birth of Christ pagan today? Let's ask another question: Is Hanukkah pagan? The answer is no. Yet, Hanukkah is square in the middle of this pagan holiday called Saturnalia. The true church pushed hard against these wicked holidays, and to assume born-again believers were participating in pagan festivals doesn't make much sense since Christians had to live outside of society for several hundred years because of severe persecution.
Calling Christmas pagan because of the nearness of the same period of a pagan holiday would be the same as calling Easter (the resurrection of Christ) and Passover pagan. The proximity does not work because a pagan spring festival may happen simultaneously.
Wess Huff, a biblical scholar, went through the history of Christmas. He discovered the same thing I did. The celebration of Christmas was not centered on a pagan holiday in Roman times. Still, Rome may have started a pagan holiday to CO-OP what Christians were already celebrating: the birth of the Savior. Remember, they were celebrating the birth of the Savior in Luke 2, not modern Christmas celebrations. https://youtu.be/5zcaQlBbk6s?si=pajb3K2Vh6NnZFWT
It's commonly asserted that Christmas has pagan origins. This idea, although popular on the internet and on History Channel (has HC really done any history in the last two decades or is it just all Ancient Aliens and Pawn Stars now?), the reality is that when you actually dig into the origin of these supposed pagan roots they really start to fall apart. Sol Invictus - 3:14 Saturnalia - 5:14 Brumalia - 6:18 Origin of Dec. 15th - 7:30 Christmas trees - 9:19 "It's not in the Bible so don't do it" - 15:31
We can confidently say that born-again believers would not have observed a pagan holiday and dishonored our Lord Jesus Christ, who rescued us from sin and death. Born-again believers do not participate in pagan rituals today, and Christmas is about the birth of Christ. We think it is grossly unfair to attribute pagan status to Christmas especially in light of the historical facts. To look back from our vantage point today and are able to judge people of another time is arrogance indeed. There is a word for this, and it is presentism.
Note: This is another argument over the date of the birth of Christ which is again a straw man. The logic that stems from this is that "Christ wasn't born on December 25 so we should not celebrate the birth of Christ on that day. But really we should not celebrate it all anyway." Well, that arguement is like arguing over what we had for thanksgiving dinner 10 years ago. The world is celebrating Dec 25 as the day we stop and celebrate Christ's birthday. That is fact.
Let's go through some history anyway.
"Certainly today, the mix of consumerism (AKA Santa Claus) can take people's eyes off Christ, but our job is to bring them back to the salvation message of the Gospel. Will you join us?" BSC.
Note: In our extensive research, we stumbled upon a Wikipedia article. We usually would bypass Wikipedia as higher education frowns on the use of Wikipedia; however, this article has stood the test of time (2001) and is updated continually, even in 2021. Once you dive into the article, you will see the extent and expanse of the research on Christmas.
Here are some highlights:
"Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's mass." The word was recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131.[22] Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah," meaning "anointed";[23][24] and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist.[25]”
"December 25 was the winter solstice date in the Roman calendar.[16][53] A late fourth-century sermon by Saint Augustine explains why this was a fitting day to celebrate Christ's nativity: "Hence it is that He was born on the Day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us chose the shortest Day, yet the one whence Light begins to increase." [54]
We conclude by the historical facts that the Roman Catholic Church did not exist at the beginning of Christian recognition of the birth of Christ.
"The Roman Emperor Constantine established himself as the head of the church around 313 A.D., which made this new "Christianity" the Roman Empire's official religion. The first actual Pope in Rome was probably Leo I (440-461 A.D.), although some claim that Gregory I was the first (Pope) (590-604 A.D.). This ungodly system eventually ushered in the darkest period known to man, called the "Dark Ages" (500-1500 A.D.). Through popes, bishops, and priests, Satan ruled Europe, and Biblical Christianity became illegal."
"And therefore, we should not celebrate the birth of Christ." We would say, "Tell that to the angels engaging the shepherds because heaven celebrated the birth of God's Son!" Luke 2:2-14
"And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
Note: the words Good News are translated from Greek
Original word: εὐαγγελίζω
Transliteration: euaggelizó
Definition (short): preach
Description (complete): to announce good news
I think this comment that "we were never commanded to celebrate Christmas" is a logical fallacy. There are many events in the Bible that people acknowledge and celebrate that we are not commanded.
But the main issue is what we will do with this time of the year.
Yep, evangelize during Christmas. There are hurting hearts at this time of the year, and many blindly celebrate a holiday not connected to Christ's birth. Let us help people relate it to Christ, our Savior.
If not Christmas, what should we celebrate instead? Some in Torah-keeping groups and Hebrew roots say we should celebrate Hanukkah instead to return to our Jewish roots. Hanukkah was not part of the Gospel, and the birth of Christ IS part of the Gospel.
We encourage everyone everywhere to ask God whether one should participate in the celebration of the birth of Christ. We say YES! We can confidently push back on anti-Christmas and Christmas is pagan with correct historical and biblical facts. You may want to tell Children there is no Santa Claus so they know the truth. We are blessing them with presents as a reminder that the Lord Jesus Christ is a gift of grace to us who were lost and now found.
Acts 26:18 gives us the motivation behind the Gospel by the Lord when he was talking to Paul on the road to Damascus. The Lord Jesus said; "to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'"
During this time of the year, people are open to the Gospel for nearly one month, meaning the world is focused on the "holidays." Can their sensitivity or openness be supernatural? We think so. Do we let this opportunity slide through our fingers to share the gift of salvation? In Matthew 28, our commission is to go and make disciples. To make a disciple, we must present the Gospel first. Will we waste our time arguing over the birth of Christ, whether it is pagan or not? To this, we say that people saying Christmas or the celebration of the birth of Christ is pagan are avoiding the Gospel! Why? Let us ask this question: Who in the spiritual realm attacks the Gospel and wants it destroyed? Satan. Think about this tidbit. Imagine a worldwide focus on Christmas, even in Buddhist countries. Why not present the Gospel at this time of the year? As Paul said, his focus was on getting people reconciled to God. (2Cor 5:18-21)
Think critically: False teachers attempt to get Christians (those who believe in Christ as their Savior) away from biblical foundations onto another system of thinking. We think this is precisely what is going on here. One area we know this is as we studied the history of Christmas, we discovered that virtually none of their view of historical facts stand up to scrutiny. That was a big surprise to me. In my graduate degrees, we learn and are trained in proper research. My career was researching specific tax guidance and helping people understand how the original writer of the tax code wrote the regulation and how to apply that for the best effect. I went where the history and facts led. I can't sugarcoat or bring an ideology to bear on the historical facts. And when we pointed this out...we were attacked. That is how we know this is a false history that Christmas is pagan. Typically, a video will start with Christmas being pagan by calling people who celebrate Christmas that they are pagans. This is called the logical fallacy of the straw man argument. God promised by the first prophecy in Genesis 3:15 that a Savior would come. We are celebrating this prophecy:
"15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." The Accuser is bound and determined to use people, even with good intentions, to stop the message of the Gospel of Salvation. We use the word accusation intentionally because people who celebrate traditional Christmas are called pagans. It was a severe charge but, fortunately, untrue.
God is a God of prophecy. He wants us to know what is coming. He answered His word and has "healing in His wings" to "reconcile us to God." There are no other holy books that contain prophetic words fulfilled!
Every Christmas season is a literal miracle that this holiday (Holy Day) is focused worldwide on Jesus Christ, our Savior. Even the Wikipedia article acknowledges this undeniable fact.
Therefore, let us turn aside from agenda-driven history as supposed "facts" and focus on the birth of Christ and sharing the Good news of His coming to rescue us from our sin and eternal death, thus giving us eternal life works in the blood of Christ! Anyone who teaches the Bible should want the facts and present them in a manner worthy of sound scholarship.
What can you and your family do to share the love of Christ with a hurting world this Christmas season? Here is one video that touches our hearts because it makes my point that people are celebrating with family and friends but may not know the real reason for Christmas...salvation. You can see this young woman become emotional as she learns that she has broken God's laws and needs a savior. The very holiday she is celebrating but not knowing why!
Feel free to share the resources.
Melton, James. "The Plain Truth about the Roman Catholic Church." biblebelievers.com. Bible Baptist Publications, 1998. https://biblebelievers.com/jmelton/Catholic.html.
Wikipedia Contributors. "Christmas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 31, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas.
———. "Christmas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 31, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
William Federer: There is a Santa Claus - History of Saint Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions
by Amazon.com Learn more: https://amzn.to/3Q2kzez
Christmas has nothing to do with paganism: Red pen logic
Was December 25 the date of Christ's birth? The Greek Orthodox church thinks so.
Resources
1. Is Christmas PAGAN? In defense of Christmas (Mike Winger of Bible Thinker)
2. Got questions.org https://www.gotquestions.org/Christmas-pagan-holiday.html
4. Stop Twisting Jeremiah 10 Because It's Not About Christmas Trees
5. Alisa Childers on Christmas
6. For the extensive history of Christmas with the discussion of the dates for the birth of Christ, God Became Incarnate James Quiggle by Amazon.com
Learn more: https://amzn.to/4gtTBrd
7. The Star of Bethlehem is an excellent movie featuring the star's astronomical view. https://youtu.be/55VRdLnkvDw
8. Wes Huff https://youtu.be/5zcaQlBbk6s?si=pajb3K2Vh6NnZFWT
Playlist of videos that will go step by step
Article On how to study the Bible from BSC step by step
Article by Dr. Baruch on how to study the Bible
Article on how numbers play a role in Bible Study
Blog article and podcast on how we learned to study the Bible with Dr. Baruch
See full post & commentsThis prayer is a guide and biblically based. All a person needs to do is cry out to God in their own words. If you are not sure how to pray, please use this as a guide.
To have a relationship with God versus religion, pray this prayer sincerely and in your own words.
Dear Heavenly Father, (Matt. 6:9) I want a relationship with You...not a religion. I come to You and open my heart. (John 3:16) I will be honest and sincere with You. (John 4) I am running my life and need Your help. (Matt. 6:10) I am made in Your image (Gen 1:26, 27), and I won't be happy until I am in a relationship with you. (Gen. 3) Most of my behavior does not please You. (Romans 3:23) I know I am a sinner, so please forgive my sins because of Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who came to die for my sins. (John 3:16) His death on the cross is the punishment I should receive, but You were gracious to die in my place through Christ. By faith, I place all of my past, present, and future sins on Christ. I believe Jesus Christ is my Savior, and salvation is a gift! I know I cannot earn my way to heaven by being good through good works. (Eph. 2:8) You did this so I can be in a relationship with You on earth and for all eternity. (Romans 10:9-13) And I will forgive those who have sinned or hurt me because you have forgiven me. Take away any bitterness or resentment I carry toward You or other people. (Matt. 6:13-14) Please show and teach me how to live a praiseworthy life on earth to You starting today. (Matt. 6:33, Acts 9 and 10) I ask you to be in my heart, as Paul said in Ephesians 3:17. I know that You love me, Father, and I want to love You and that you have a purpose and plan for my life. I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Lord, because You gave me breath in my lungs and Savior, because you paid my sin debt. Please teach me to pray. (Matt. 6:9) Thank You, Jesus, for saving me to Yourself (Ex. 19:1-8) and making me a new person! (2 Cor. 5:17) In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!
Learn to grow at www.biblestudycompany.com, Grace Bible Church, and Christ Community Church.
See full post & commentsInternet Explorer Users:
WELCOME FELLOW PEWSITTERS to our first podcast! Grab some coffee or your favorite beverage and of course, your bestie. We will discuss how and why Bible Study Company got started. We are not a company per se'. We are a "company of believers" studying scripture to live a praiseworthy life to God.
Now you don't have to be a theologian to study God's word. We just needed some tools. And by watching videos of Dr. Baruch Korman of Loveisrael.org, we were able to start studying scripture.
Approaching the Bible with the eye toward living a praiseworthy life to God changed our marriage and our relationship with Christ. Scripture started invading our life! Afterall, His will is done in heaven right, so why not in my life, our life, and your life? The podcast is our journey of what we went through to create biblestudycompany.com. We tried to capture our bumbling and stumbling in the pcast. I think you will find it honest, genuine and fun. Please join us.
The future podcasts will be studying Exodus, and we will have people interviews. On deck for the interviews are Dr. Baruch Korman, Loveisrael.org and Erin and Pete Janus, and their story on a journey to faith.
Oh...and don't forget to heat up your coffee as the podcast progresses! You will need the boost!
And will you comment for us?
Bible Study Company Beginnings
(to download the podcast for listening offline, right click this link and save the file)
blessings,
Ric and Mary Joyner
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Introducing Bible Study Company QUICK STUDY. Grab some coffee or your favorite beverage or best friend. We are excited to have you join us. We are pew sitters on a path to find out what pleases God, our Creator. We are studying scripture through a lens to find out how to live a praiseworthy life to Christ. Dr. Baruch Korman of Loveisrael.org has shared his study tips with us, and we plan on sharing them with you. They are changing our bible study and our life! We could never imagine the discoveries that have opened our minds to God's agenda and purposes! WOW!
We starting to ask God questions about His word. So what do bricks, pavement and feet have to do with our relationship with God? Plenty. And where do mountains fit into our relationship? Mountains mean God's government. Can we hear from God? Yes! Read Proverbs 1 and gain some confidence. "But I am not trained in Scripture?" Then you are in the right place. What place do God’s commandments have in our lives? We aren't going to answer all the questions in 10 minutes. How do they relate to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5? We are pew sitters, like you, who want to find out what pleases God.
Come join us! Please tell us what you think. We need the feedback.. Do you like these "shorts?"
Ric and Mary Joyner
Pew Sitters!
See full post & commentsDear Community,
Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think. This is what community is all about. The input regarding Community v.s. Company was close to being equal. Many people loved the phrase; bible study community. A good amount of folks also liked Bible Study Company which was what we originally started with. When we began BSC in 2015 our mission was to study scripture to live a praiseworthy life to God by being a “company” of believers studying scripture. In the end, our mission is also community. Remember to check out our groups and post your favorite meaningful comments in the community area. BTW we appreciate those who share with others about BSC.
After my email to everyone, I grabbed www.biblestudycommunity.com and now we have both: Bible Study Company and Community web addresses!
So, remember you can find us at Bible Study Company or Bible Study Community.
We noticed that we don’t have to do a thing to our web site. Here is a snap shot.
https://www.screencast.com/t/AcEgq5lY
See full post & commentsHi Everyone,
Thank you for participating in Bible Study Company! We are thinking of a name change since we are early on in our growth. Mary and I came from a corporate background. We thought, at the beginning of our planning stages for BSC, that it would be a “play on words” to call our project Bible Study Company, in hopes, that BSC would be a "company" of believers studying scripture to live a praiseworthy life to God. We are now seeking invitations to churches and mission organizations to present BSC, and we fear that the word “company” may be a hindrance. In the video, I share an anecdote of a dear friend who was expounding the features of BSC with a pastor and why the pastor should use it and tell his congregation. My friend mentioned that "it was an online community...". My mind went straight to that comment. Community gets to the heart of what we are trying to do. So why not be “Bible Study Community”? My immediate thought was to see if www.biblestudycommunity.com/.org was available and it was. Thus I secured it. We are at a perfect window of time to change the name if our advisors and current users agree.
Our survey question to you is this: Do you believe "Bible Study Company" could be a hindrance to doors opening in churches and mission organizations versus Bible Study Community? Or does it matter? Do you believe “community” vs. “company” better reflects our mission?
Here is the video: https://www.screencast.com/t/bkZLWAdTd1ES
We would love your feedback, and on any improvements, you think might be helpful to your study and recommending us to your congregation and friends. In case you hadn't noticed yet, we have vastly improved our search capabilities and created a new feature allowing you to share notes with friends outside of BSC! We will be posting a “road map” of wish list features for our users to vote on in the future.
Your feedback is appreciated, please take your valuable time and let us know your thoughts. We can only grow if you are behind us.
In His service,
Ric and Mary Joyner
See full post & commentsLexicons are powerful tools in studying scripture. Why? For example, seeing the root word in Greek and Hebrew and following the word throughout the Bible gives us a more comprehensive understanding of how the Bible uses the word. Look for patterns and themes in the use words. Our lexicon employs the excellent Strong's Concordance, which is a Bible Study “must have.” Have you tried doing a bible study and trace one word throughout Scripture with a hardcover Strong's Concordance? It is tedious and time-consuming. Biblestudycompany.com just made it easier! Pewsitters Arise!
Here is the link and please subscribe to our youtube channel. https://youtu.be/Vm0RbHCqTp0
See full post & commentsHey Everyone,
For those who are looking for a bible study to do this weekend, please look at Eph 4:17-32. I watched a pastor with a group of millennials men go through these verses with amazing results. The pastor approached these verses as "Paul's prescription to change." Meaning that by following the key passages, memorizing the Scripture and doing introspection (hopefully by asking the Holy Spirit) we can pinpoint in our lives areas of sin or change needed to live a praiseworthy life to God. Remember that Titus 2:10-12 shows us that we don't have the power to change without God's help. He will teach us to move from ungodliness (anything that does not please God), and this is how we know we are in Grace; because we are moving toward pleasing God versus living selfish lives. I love this saying; "it is all about a relationship with God, not religion".
Please remember to share about biblestudycompany.com
This is a how-to training video and should be passed on to everyone who uses a screen. But how? You are aware of more than you realize. We give you simple techniques from years of experience. The tip is to scan your screen for small changes that you ARE aware of but, are not sensitive to yet. With this video, our tools will help you notice subtle changes and respond correctly.
Here are the tips in order:
1. STOP and SEE your screen. Meaning that if you take extra time to view what is on the whole screen, taking it in before moving on we will begin to see subtle changes.
2. Create heightened awareness of your screen rather than moving on without noticing any changes. Read those annoying boxes that pop-up. They have valuable information.
3. Don't treat computers or smartphones as if they "should just work." They are tools. Tools require training. Learn to do things like; email or sending pictures via a text message BEFORE YOU NEED TO. Or if you don't want to do that, because it is work, just watch this video. It will solve all of your problems. And I mean all of them. That was a total tongue in cheek lie. But stop blaming your machine. Own it, learn it or toss it.
4. Notice changes.
5. Play with it. Have fun.
6. If frustrated, don't go in circles doing the same thing. Try something new. There are many ways to accomplish the same task. Ask a friend for help or go to youtube for a video. There seems to be a video on everything. For example, there is now one on; "how to use any screen" regardless of age. See the link below. ;^)
Watch and tell us what you think. https://youtu.be/fCDmjDSs5Lk
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This video is to help you understand why signing up is crucial to participating in Bible Study Company. The main purpose for having an account is to unlock all the features. Those are in the next videos. https://youtu.be/iVZKRC01Wjk
Ric
See full post & commentsExodus 19 talks about Moses consecrating the people and also having them wash their garments. This speaks to me in many ways. How do we consecrate and wash our garments in a spiritual sense? My view would be to have a repentant heart that is always looking to serve God and his purposes. This can only be done with a close and personal relationship with our Savior. Having a relationship with God, allows us to see, hear, and do!
Moses is a wonderful example of a intimate relationship with God. He is asked to go up the mountain then down. Then up again and down. In a physical sense this seems so hard and repetative for Moses. Why is God doing this? When I look at it with spiritual eyes, I see a man who has a close and intimate relationship with God. He hears, responds and does what his Father asks of him. Moses understand that it is in Gods power that things get done not his own power. Walking up to God and conversing can only bring strength and clearity to a persons spiritual and physical life! Lord create in me a clean heart and help me to remember your grace. Grace is the realization that God give us the power to do the next right thing!! Not in our power but his!
See full post & comments(www.biblestudycompany.com)
We now have a YouTube channel that we will be putting up our "how to" videos. I have a favor to ask if would please go to the channel, and subscribe it will help us because when we get to 100 subscribers we will get our own URL for our brand. Here is the first video and more will be coming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjwe-9H0SsA