Monday 22 June 2015

Wat in de week de Nederlandse Christelijke pers haalde

1. Veel christenen gaan naar de kerk maar zijn bang om in de hel te eindigen. (+)   
2. In Charleston werden negen mensen in een kerk doodgeschoten. Hoe familieleden van de slachtoffers reageren is ontroerend. 
3. Kees Goedhart vertelt in dit interview over zijn jarenlange betrokkenheid bij Opwekking. "De Opwekkingsconferentie speelde in op een geestelijke nood in Nederland." (+)
4. Zelfbevrediging is een thema waar niet of nauwelijks over wordt gesproken in de kerk, maar wel veel vragen over zijn. Bekijk deze video over dit onderwerp met Willem Ouweneel. 
5. We maakten trouwens ook dit interview rondom seksualiteit met Frank Bosman (+).
6. Mohammed uit Syrië werd gemarteld en geslagen, maar ontmoette Jezus in zijn cel.
7. Wat christenen kunnen leren van Voetbal International, 's lands best bekeken voetbalprogramma lees je hier (+).
8. Deze moeder plaatste een ijzersterke boodschap op Facebook.
9. De boodschap ‘je bent een parel in Gods hand’ is niet genoeg. Marius Storm: "Met Jezus houdt van je kom je er niet."
10. "De wedergeboorte kan het zicht op Evangelie belemmeren," vertelde ds. G.A. van den Brink.
11. Ds Vreugdenhil: "Geesten en demonen zijn geen verleden tijd."Lees het interview hier. (+)
12. Dit verhaal werd ook heel veel gedeeld en gelezen. "Ik bad: God maak hen blind."

Lijkwade van Turijnterug te zien naar aanleiding 200ste verjaardag van de geboorte van Don Bosco


De Lijkwade van Turijn is vanaf 19 juni opnieuw voor het publiek te zien.
Zij wordt tentoongesteld naar aanleiding van de wereldwijde vieringen voor de 200ste verjaardag van de geboorte van Don Bosco. De stichter van de salesianen leefde en verkondigde in Turijn.
De relikwie, die door de katholieke Kerk niet officieel als dusdanig is erkend, is opengevouwen 4,36 meter lang en 1,10 meter breed. Zij toont het negatief van de voor- en achterkant van een man waarvan de verwondingen volgens de christelijke traditie overeenkomen met de kruiswonden van Jezus.

De authenticiteit van het doek is door de katholieke Kerk nooit officieel erkend, maar zij beschouwt het doek wel als een authentiek, weliswaar niet-origineel getuigenis van de passie van Christus, dat de gelovigen helpt geloven in de kruisdood en de opstanding. Dat is de reden waarom ook paus Franciscus, ondanks de omstreden authenticiteit, naar Turijn reist om de 'icoon van het lijden van Christus' te zien.

Een belangrijk argument tegen de authenticiteit van het doek is dat het slechts na de plundering van Constantinopel in 1204 in documenten van de tempeliers opduikt. Maar anderen verwijzen naar oudere historische documenten die spreken over een doek met het gelaat van Christus dat al in de 8ste-9de eeuw in Odessa werd bewaard en dat later naar Constantinopel in veiligheid werd gebracht. Zij denken dat de Lijkwade zo geplooid was dat enkel het gelaat was te zien. Maar ook dan nog is er een periode van eeuwen waarin er geen historische vermeldingen zijn, terwijl het onwaarschijnlijk is dat er in historische geschriften geen sprake is van zo'n belangrijke getuige van de kruisdood van Christus; Een tweede belangrijk argument tegen de echtheid is de C14-datering van het doek uit 1988. Dat gebeurde toen op verzoek van het Vaticaan. Op basis van de radiometrische dateringsmethode, met behulp van de isotoop koolstof-14 (C14-datering), concludeerden wetenschappers toen dat de Lijkwade van Turijn een artefact uit de middeleeuwen was. Historici zeggen dat daarmee een definitief historisch oordeel is geveld over het doek…

Maar critici houden vol dat de methode onvoldoende is ontwikkeld om met de vele variabelen rekening te houden. Zij verwijzen in het bijzonder naar een historisch gedocumenteerde brand waarbij de Lijkwade slechts in extremis werd gered (en ook deels beschadigd raakte). Sporen van die brand en de onhandige reparatie die daarna plaatsvond doen het doek volgens hen recenter lijken dan het in werkelijkheid is. De verdedigers van de authenticiteit van het doek doen beroep op twee belangrijke argumenten. Het eerste en belangrijkste argument is de manier waarop de afbeelding op het doek kwam. Die afbeelding werd niet op het doek geschilderd. Niet onbelangrijk is dat het portret een negatief is, waardoor het pas sinds de uitvinding van de fotografie duidelijk is welke afbeelding op het doek staat. De afbeelding op het doek dateert echter van eeuwen voor de uitvinding van de fotografie. Vraag is hoe het Christusportret dan wel op het doek terecht kwam. Een tweede belangrijk argument zijn de plantenpollen op het doek uit de tijd en de streek waar Jezus heeft geleefd. Feit is dat de lijkwade tot op vandaag nog steeds niet alle geheimen heeft prijsgegeven. Wellicht ook juist daarom blijft zij zo sterk tot de verbeelding spreken. 

Only one person who has the power to cast the deciding vote that will kill your dream




There exists only one person who has the power to cast the deciding vote that will kill your dream...YOU!


 'Moses spoke to the children of Israel...'Look the Lord you God has set the land before you, go up and possess it... Yet, for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God... And the Lord ...took an oath, saying, surely not one of these men...shall see that good land of which I swore to give...' Deuteronomy 1:3,21,32,34-35


Een visum, een leven

Onder de naam Een visum, een leven wil de Brusselse Anne-Laure Losseau zich, samen met een aantal andere Brusselse geëngageerde burgers, inzetten voor Syrische oorlogsvluchtelingen. Ze willen de Conventie van Genève uit 1951, herleid tot een prop papier, uitvouwen en gladstrijken.
Als burgers die solidair zijn met andere burgers in nood, willen ze de letter van de Vluchtelingenconventie opnieuw in ere herstellen.
Omdat vluchtelingen enkel via de illegale weg naar België kunnen komen om dan asiel aan te vragen, neemt de burgergroep een andere legale, weinig belopen weg: de piste van een humanitair visum.

> Lees verder:

Brusselaars halen Syrische vluchtelingen zelf naar België

Een aantal Brusselse burgers – een melange van verschillende leeftijden, beroepen en achtergronden – wil doen wat België niet of nauwelijks doet: kwetsbare Syrische vluchtelingen op een veilige manier naar België halen. Engagement van onderuit, een positief en krachtig signaal aan België en Europa.

Pauselijjk verzoek gemeenschappelijke viering door alle christelijke kerken van Pasen

BRUSSEL (KerkNet) – Steven H. Fuite, de voorzitter van Verenigde Protestantse Kerk van België, reageert positief op de aanzet van paus Franciscus voor de gemeenschappelijke viering door alle christelijke kerken van Pasen. Paus Franciscus vertelde recent tijdens een ontmoeting met priesters uit de hele wereld dat de katholieke Kerk niet a priori wil vasthouden aan de Gregoriaanse kalender voor de bepaling van de paasdatum. Dat aanbod wordt beschouwd als een belangrijke doorbraak. De Oosterse kerken, waaronder de Russisch-orthodoxe Kerk en het oecumenische patriarchaat, reageerden vorige week al positief op het aanbod van paus Franciscus.

Steven H. Fuite, de voorzitter van Verenigde Protestantse Kerk van België, zegt dat het streven naar een gemeenschappelijke paasdatum ook vanuit de protestantse gemeenschap wordt gesteund:
 "Ik ben heel blij met alle inspanningen die ertoe bijdragen dat de christelijke kerken elkaar vinden, en heel concreet ook de gemeenschappelijke viering van Pasen. Indien wij het grootste christelijke feest, dat Pasen is, op dezelfde datum kunnen vieren dan zou dat fantastisch zijn. Het zou tevens de uitdrukking zijn van de eenheid van de christenen."

VPKB-voorzitter Fuite gelooft niet dat er bij de protestantse kerken een veto bestaat tegen een bepaalde paasdatum.
 "Ik meen dat protestanten hun gevoeligheid hierover graag opzij willen zetten om tot eenzelfde datum te komen. Pasen is het belangrijkste christelijke feest. Het werd al in de vroege christelijke kerk gevierd, nog voor er sprake was over de viering van het kerstfeest. Het geloof in het leven, de dood en het feit dat lijden niet het laatste woord heeft, behoort tot de kern van het christendom. Met Pasen vieren wij de opstanding uit de dood van Christus, de man van Nazareth. Dat behoort tot de kern van het christendom. Pasen leert ons dat er steeds toekomst is, hoe groot het lijden ook is."
zegt hij.
(Kerknet)

Onze wereld is een vuilnisbelt geworden. En of je het nu graag hoort of niet: het is de mens zelf die daarvoor de grootste verantwoordelijkheid draagt.
De aanpak van de ecologische crisis verloopt veel te traag. De paus roept op tot engagement en actie. Niet morgen, maar vandaag.
Toch blijft Paus Franciscus optimistisch. Hij gelooft in de mens en zijn mogelijkheden zichzelf te overstijgen. Maar dan zullen we daar bewust voor moeten kiezen. Alleen zo kan het tij gekeerd worden.
Deze encycliek zet de mensheid aan het werk. Het is niet toevallig dat hij niet alleen gericht is aan de gelovigen of mensen van goede wil, maar aan alle mensen zonder onderscheid. Ik hoop dan ook dat deze oproep niet in dovenmansoren valt. Falen is namelijk geen optie. In actie komen, vandaag nog, is het enige alternatief.

Lees verder:

Klimaat: waarom falen geen optie is

Paus waarschuwt dat de mens en milieu met elkaar verbonden zijn

Kan het helpen als een kerkvader zich uitspreekt over een wereldse zaak? Misschien wel. In ieder geval is het hoognodig om werk te maken van onze verhouding met de natuur.

De nieuwe encycliek van de paus ‘Laudato Si’ kan hopelijk diegenen van de conservatieve gelovige kant welke de opwarming van de aarde willen negeren anders doen gaan denken.

"In de ‘Zorg om de schepping’ neemt de paus een duidelijk standpunt in. Hij beklemtoont het algemeen welzijn en de zorg voor de komende generaties. Het is een holistischne mens- en wereldvisie waarbij alles met alles verbonden is. Hij heeft aandacht voor mens én milieu. De strijd tegen armoede, zorg voor de natuur en ijver voor de menselijke waardigheid gaan hand in hand. Sociale en ecologische problemen staan niet los van elkaar.
Het knelpunt ligt volgens de paus vooral in de consumptiemaatschappij die de natuurlijke rijkdommen verspilt en opgebruikt en gericht is op winstmaximalisatie.

Het is opmerkelijk dat de paus niet alleen de problematiek in al zijn aspecten benoemt maar ook alternatieve benaderingswijzen en actieterreinen aangeeft.

Good and bad things in this world

There are many good things in this world, but also many bad things; Thee are also many things which may seem good but which are not so go for us. There are many tempting things which may bring us in situations where we are going to do things which are not always so good for us.

Those things which may bring us in temptation do not always show their true face. When we give in we call such an action sinning.

In the old times already warnings were given. Everything got notated in a Book of books, in which people could find advice and guidance.

We ourselves do have to be aware that we just can not be perfect, but also can not expect others to be perfect.  We also have to be careful how we look at others and do not judge them. By judging others we ourselves could be doing wrong. No man, except Christ Jesus was or is sinless. We may not have any illusion about that.
The one who makes us well and gives life was born long ago and after his death taken out of the dead, as an example to what can happen to us. To Jesus was authority given to to give eternal life.
We may wonder if we 'Can we not do what Jesus did?' but should know it seems to be impossible, but there is no reason not to try it.

It all started very early at the beginning of times, in the garden of Eden, when the fall of man pulled us all in a terrible situation and got many people doubted God's right to have dominion over us and to judge us.

Some may say that
a thing is good when on its own account it ought to exist, and bad when on its own account it ought not to exist. If it seems to be in our power to cause a thing to exist or not to exist, we ought to try to make it exist if it is good, and not exist if it is bad.
Though many try to bring things in existence which are not good at all. When a thing is good, it is fitting that we should feel pleasure in its existence. When it is bad, it is fitting that we should feel that there is something wrong with it. Somehow each person, like animals, has some inner feeling or instinct, of what is good or bad.

For many good means the same as desired, so
that when we say a thing is good we mean that it is desired.
 but man has many desires which are not at all good for him.Therefore we do have to be careful with such a definition of "good" and "bad".

You also might say
ethical preferences are a mere matter of taste,
and in a certain way they are and they can change by the standards of time. What might be considered the right way in one period of time may be considered the wrong way in an other period.

When people would listen much more to their inner voice, they would much easier know what is good and what is bad. Also when they would read the Bible and keep to its instructions there would be less difficulties in the world about the concern of doing good or bad, than everyone would have a correct guiding or measuring unit for goodness and badness.

This article is not meant to go deep into the matter, but is only provided to introduce the question and to present some interesting articles.

  1. Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 1
  2. Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 4
  3. A Living Faith #4 Effort
  4. Let not sin reign in your mortal body
  5. No time for immorality
  6. Integrity of the fellowship
  7. Looking for something or for the Truth and what it might be and self-awareness
  8. A voice and a Word given for wisdom
  9. No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation
  10. The one who makes us well and gives life
  11. Authority given to him To give eternal life
  12. We are redeemed; we are “bought with a price”
  13. Can we not do what Jesus did?
  14. Salvation and Righteousness
  15. Atonement And Fellowship 4/8
  16. Atonement and the race been bought
  17. Missional hermeneutics 5/5
  18. May the Lord direct your hearts to …
  19. Cognizance at the doorstep or at the internet socket
  20. What Is Sanctification?
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Thursday 18 June 2015

Jehovah’s Witnesses Shunning ex-members adverse effects on family relationships

pt: Salão do Reino das Testemunhas de Jeová, P...
pt: Salão do Reino das Testemunhas de Jeová, Portugal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Majority of former Jehovah’s Witnesses believes the organization’s policy of shunning ex-members has had adverse effects on family relationships.

When you meet Jehovah Witnesses mostly they say they do not have any schisms in their organisation. None of them seems to have ever done something wrong when a Witness of Jehovah. Before they became a Witness it might well be that they did something wrong, but the changed and when a baptised Witness from then onwards they do not seem to do bad things any more.

Though we can find many ex-Witnesses. From those who left the organisation we do find some who kept to the Most High and left because their own changed views or where asked to leave the organisation because of their other views. But we also do find lots of ex-JW who were put out of the organisation because their lifestyle did not fit a lifestyle of a Christian.

98% of the people responding to the questioning by JWAlumni.org said leaving the faith impaired or destroyed their relationship with their family. Though we do have to question what was destroying the family relationship really. In the 1950ies we also in Catholic families could find quarrels about attending or not the church services and having family members going out of the house wanting to have an other way of life. It is also not so long ago that in many atheist and Christian families gay people became excluded form the family, and it still happens in such families today.
Big problem with the JW seems to be what happens when one family member quiets the organisation and what the organisation then demands from the other family members.

According to the survey, 76 percent of former Jehovah’s Witnesses are being shunned (minimized or no association) by their families. 90 percent were told it was due to the respective member not being a Jehovah’s Witness any-more. Strangely enough not so much effort was or is put in trying to get them back into the flock. We wonder how much time is invested in trying to keep the person in the faith.

Whereas the Catholic Church encourages association with excommunicated members and tries to keep them involved in the community, JW.org (or the Watchtower Society) admonish avoiding former Jehovah’s Witnesses all together.

Shunning was introduced by Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1952, only five years after they had denounced excommunication as an instrument of “ecclesiastical power and secular tyranny” that is “altogether foreign to Bible teachings.”

Though we may not forget that also in many other religious groups excommunication exists and also brings problems in families making siblings not coming together any more under one roof or having children loosing contact with their parents. Certain social and gender reasons have also serious percussions in non-religious families.

JWalumni - Jehovah's Witnesses News asked former and active members
 “How have Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW.org) affected your family?”
in a survey* they conducted in May 2015 among 1,055 individuals in the USA, Australia, Canada, UK and Germany.

One of the bigger impacts for the JW members may come from them growing up in a religion where they are taught to centre their life around it. Everything is supposed to conform to specifications set out by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. While the consequences are less drastic when it comes to recreation or one’s choice of entertainment, they are all the more dramatic in regards to association. Granted, the rank and file Jehovah’s Witnesses all have a measure of contact with Non-Jehovah’s Witnesses through work or school. But the average Witness will limit their contact with ‘worldly people’ to such unavoidable occasions. So when they leave the so-called truth, they are literally on their own and do feel the shock only when they feel the solitude once out of the group, because before that they did not socialise enough with others.

Misha Anouk, Founding Editor of JWAlumni.org and author of the german-language bestseller Goodbye, Jehova! in her book Goodbye, Jehova!  describes the hell she went through in the years following her departure.

According to her the  system of shunning is purposely used to let the doubting or leaving person feel the loneliness.
The ‘shunning policy’ relies on: emotional blackmail through social isolation which will eventually make you want to go back. And the strategy sadly works in one of three cases.

Experts call the silent treatment manipulative punishment – something JW.org condemns in their literature.
Steve Hassan, Cult Expert at Freedom of Mind and Author of Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults says:
Information Control (all the others too: Behavior Control, Thought control, Emotional Control) is a major reason cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses disfellowship and threaten to disfellowship. They do not want people speaking with ex-members because they will start thinking independently. They will realize the phobia indoctrination (emotional control) is just that – people can leave and live a happy, spiritual life outside of the confines of the group. I do believe all totalistic cults need to stop violating their members fundamental human rights.”
When we look at the magazines and go to a Kingdom Hall meeting, at a service or at a Bible study meeting we can not ignore that the questioning- answering system has something of an indoctrination system. Often it looks like people are also not free to make their own opinion and to discuss their other view openly with others in the group.

Much too often we do hear that such person doubting or having questions about certain teachings do not want to receive the 'new light' or are not yet ready to see the light and should be more patient.

Very often families shunning other members of the family even do not want to see the real reasons of the other being disfellowshipped or why he or she wanted to leave the organisation voluntary.
Most of them added that the reason for them leaving the group had to do with what JW leadership commanded them to do.
We also cannot ignore that the organisation seems to victimize their members time and again, with horrific policies that hurt them when they stay and punish them when they leave.
The shunning often has had adverse effects on family relationships: two-thirds feel that Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine “destroyed or seriously disrupted” their family.
Shunning is an extreme form of excommunication (“disfellowshipping”) whereby a person who committed a sin according to the Watchtower Society’s standards or who has chosen to revoke their membership in the organization is then socially isolated by Jehovah’s Witnesses – including family members.The Watchtower Society, the corporation overseeing Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide, promotes the policy of shunning former members
72 percent of families who shunned a disfellowshipped member did so because of what the Governing Body told them through the literature of JW.org. And 59 percent admitted that the reason for shunning their relative was the hope they would return to the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Only 2 percent of Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses who are being shunned feel that the practice of disfellowshipping and isolating former members socially had no effect on their family.

In contrast, 52 percent stated that their Jehovah’s Witnesses family wanted “no contact at all”, with 17 percent only getting in touch when they “need something”.

The findings are not surprising, given the fact the not so family friendly shunning policy of Jehovah’s Witnesses has been called cruel and inhumane by cult experts like the Australian Psychologist Raphael Aron and is even categorized as psychological torture. Nonetheless, only 50 percent of Jehovah’s Witness families who are actively shunning a relative would welcome a change in policy, despite the fact that they have hardly any contact.

Read more about it >

Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘destroy or seriously disrupt’ Families due to their Shunning Policy, Survey finds

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Thursday 11 June 2015

Struggles of life

Roasted coffee beans Español: Granos de café t...
Roasted coffee beans Español: Granos de café tostado (natural). Bahasa Indonesia: Biji kopi alami yang telah disangrai. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
STRUGGLES OF OUR LIFE

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.


The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked.

 “Daughter, what do you see?”
 “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,”
 she hastily replied.
“Look closer”,
 he said,
 “and touch the potatoes.”
 She did and noted that they were soft.
 

He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?”
she asked.
 

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity - the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which one are you?”
 he asked his daughter.
 “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
MORAL:

 In life, things happen around us and things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about learning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.

Wednesday 10 June 2015

Wycliffe Associates supporting underground Bible translators

English: The study translation Bible 2009 Česk...
English: The study translation Bible 2009 Česky: Český studijní překlad Bible 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Bible translation from the jesuit and professo...
Bible translation from the jesuit and professor for oriental languages Ignaz Weitenauer, printed at Joseph-Wolffische Buchhandlung, Augsburg 1783 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In a region with nearly 1,000 languages, representing 280 million people, we find that many are without the Scriptures.

 Bible translators need technology, training, and resources to translate the Bible as quickly and effectively as possible.

Over the past year, 11 of the 28 Bible translators living and working in the Middle East and Central Asia, where there is a widespread, deadly presence of extremists, have been reported dead or missing.

Like everywhere in the world we can find extremist which do everything to get rid of those who do not fit their teachings or ideology.

Bruce Smith, President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates says:
“Given the realities of the world in which these translators live and serve, some people might think the best thing they could do right now is to go into hiding and lay low for a while.”
This would not be in line with Jesus his teachings. He asked us to go out in the world and not to fear man, but in the fear of God try to bring His Holy Name over all the world. Only by spreading the Word of God, people may come to find the Only One God and His only begotten son Jesus Christ.

Even when there are a lot of trinitarian translators and organisations working at bringing God's Word in other languages, this is an important work of the evangelisation. Even when those churches are bringing false human doctrines, by providing the people with a Bible translation in their own language they should be able to come to find the real True God.

Smith says these Bible translators want the Scriptures to be distributed by every possible means, and they
“want an audacious number of printed copies, which reflect their conviction that everyone who speaks their language needs to have God’s Word.”
Wycliffe Associates which empowers national Bible translators to provide God’s Word in their own language, partners with the local church to direct and guard translation work, harnessing their passion and desire for God’s Word, and engages people from all around the world to provide resources, technology, training, and support for Bible translation. It is currently raising $300,000 to equip these local translators with the technology and training they need to work more safely.

According to Wycliffe Associates
Of the 6,901 languages spoken worldwide, only 531 have a full translation of the Bible. A Bible translation is currently in progress for 2,195 languages, and 1,023 languages in the world have at least one book of the Bible. Wycliffe Associates is striving to achieve the goal of beginning the translation of God’s Word into every remaining language by 2025.

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Americans really thinking the Messiah Christ had an English name

King James Version of the Bible
King James Version of the Bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is incredible how many Anglophone people we encounter who really think the Messiah had an English name.

We even find Americans like Dan Popp who find it foolishness that Americans don't need to learn anything about the Jewish history or culture, and find it ridiculous that there are folks who go around substituting "Yeshua" for "Jesus". He thinks they are are  not just harmless know-nothings, but it may be that they're trying to re-Jewify something that God has made universal.

He is afraid that the "Yeshua" people are in the process of falling into the first error – trying to mash up Law and Grace.

He really seem to think all the New Testament authors wrote "Jesus" rather than "Yeshua" in the Holy Scriptures. This gives the impression that he is really convinced that the Greek writers used the English translation for the real name of the Nazarene man who gave his life for all living people.

He also does not seem to see that the Apostles wrote "Yeshua" or "Jeshua" in modern spelling or in the spelling of other languages (like in English, Dutch, French) He also seem to think that the master teacher whom he considers also to be God gave Simon Bar-Jonah a Greek name but says it was "Peter". Peter is not at all a Greek name and in other languages we may find his name also be translated as "Peter" but totally differently pronounced than English speaking people do. In other languages they may say Petrus, which Paul freely converted to its Hebrew form, Cephas.

Then Dan Popp says
 No such translation was ever done with the name of Christ in the New Testament. {It's Jesus, not Yeshua}
He also does seem to forget how the names where altered at the time of Constantine, whose real name was also  not Constantine but Constantinus. Though lots of English people do want all other people having the name how they want to pronounce it in their language.

In 325 was decided to agree to let the God of the followers of Christ be part of the godcircle of the Romans and the Greek. some also started to consider Jesus as a god and as such several could agree for a three headed god like in the Roman and Greek culture. those who wanted the Nazarene teacher to be their god did find they had to be the 'upper god' and as such was chosen for the name 'Hail Zeus' or 'Issou' which you can find in many translations of the Scriptures. This Issou became in several languages Jesu or Chesu and in English first Iesus and later Jesus.

Dan Popp questions:
What if God wanted to present His Son as more than just the parochial savior of the Jews? What if He wanted to impart more than the mere sound of the name – what if He wished the Gentile listener to understand the meaning of the name ("The Salvation of Yahweh" or "Yahweh is Salvation.") What if He wanted to crush faux Jews who run around gushing about "Yeshua?" {It's Jesus, not Yeshua}
Again he does not seem to see what Jeshua or Joshua really means and what Issou or Iéssou really means. Jehovah saves, or that the child was given the name as signification, like Joshua, that God was  with it and which parents gave also to honour the God Who brought salvation. Jehovah God is the One God of gods Who took care that this child was born. He was it Who demanded to give the child the name Jeshua and not 'Hail Zeus' or Jesus.

Dan Popp writes further:
So, back to the Yeshua-ites. If the Holy Spirit knows Christ best, never makes a mistake, and has a purpose (though it may be obscure to us) for identifying the Second Person of the Trinity as "Jesus," what kind of malfunction would we be experiencing to try to correct Him? {It's Jesus, not Yeshua}
Here again we do see that he does not want to accept what the Holy Spirit brings over to the world. Nowhere in the Bible you shall find the word 'Holy Trinity', neither shall you be finding that there is a three-godhead, or three-union god. Clearly in the Bible is indicated that God is an eternal Spirit who can not be seen by man and Who does not tell lies. that God told clearly about that man in the river Jordan who was seen by many, that it was his son. God never told it was Him standing there. God also told he could not be tempted, but after his baptism Jesus was tempted more than once. did Popp's god make than mistakes or said confusing things, though Popp himself says that the Holy Spirit, Who is God, does not make mistakes.

Could it not be that lots of Americans and lots of English speaking people are mistaken to think that all those Biblical characters had English names?

The translation of names happened. So we do not say it has to be turned back. But we have to be honest and have to accept that the characters in the time of Jesus did not have English names and even did not speak English at all. Therefore English people should also accept that others use the real name of those characters or even also use translations to their language of those characters. Also for the way of writing the English people should accept that the way of writing the sounds has changed by the time passing and that we may accept a new modern spelling, but always shave to remind of the old ways.

It is the same for lots of English speaking people who contestate that only the King James version is the True Bible and is the only bible which should be used, as if in the other language or even in English there is no other right translation. Typically of those who so strongly debate for the only use of the King James version is that they often use one of the man versions and never use the original King James translation. And what for use would it be to use the old first translation to reach people and to get them interested in the word of God?

But let us remember that in that Bible is clearly written that there is only One true God and that Jeshua (Iesus or Jesus) is His only begotten son.
Isa 42:8 KJV-1611  I am the Lord; that is my name, and my glory will I not giue to another, neither my praise to grauen images.
Exo 20:7 KJV-1611  Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vaine: for the Lord will not holde him guiltlesse, that taketh his Name in vaine.
Luk 1:30-35 KJV-1611  And the Angel said vnto her, Feare not, Marie, for thou hast found fauour with God.  (31)  And behold, thou shalt conceiue in thy wombe, and bring forth a sonne, and shalt call his name Iesus.  (32)  He shall be great, and shall be called the sonne of the Highest, and the Lord God shall giue vnto him the throne of his father Dauid.  (33)  And hee shall reigne ouer the house of Iacob for euer, and of his kingdome there shall be no end.  (34)  Then said Marie vnto the Angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?  (35)  And the Angel answered and said vnto her, The holy Ghost shall come vpon thee, and the power of the Highest shall ouershadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall bee borne of thee, shall bee called the sonne of God.
 Luk 3:21-23 KJV-1611  Now when all the people were baptized, and it came to passe that Iesus also being baptized, and praying, the heauen was opened:  (22)  And the holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a Doue vpon him, and a voice came from heauen, which said, Thou art my beloued sonne, in thee I am well pleased.  (23)  And Iesus himselfe began to be about thirty yeeres of age, being (as was supposed) the sonne of Ioseph, which was the sonne of Heli,

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Find the article spoken off:  It's Jesus, not Yeshua

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A question to be posed

At the Belgian ecclesia site there is a series going on about the necessity to look for and to find God. One of the presented ways its by going to look at the old writings which found their way from one generation to the next, throughout the ages.

From the writings people should come to see that they may find more insight in the happenings of the world and in the way human beings behave in this world and how we can stand straight in this system of things. There is also shown the way how people can gain encouragement and hope from spending time in God’s word.

It is not always easy to stand straight in life or to find your ways in life. For many people life seems a struggle. Lots of people can use some encouragement and need to find hope.  The hope available in God’s word ought to be reason enough to read it on a regular basis.

Often we hear people questioning God and His position and actions. But when going into discussion with such people we come to hear that they have no clue of what happened earlier in history. They only think about an apple for the story of Adam and Eve but have no idea what really happened there in the Garden of Eden and which promises where made already so early in human history. 

They often do not know that God has given everybody to see His works and to hear His Voice.
Today many are interested in the social media but are not so interested in going to look for the number 1 best seller of all time!
The Bible earns its place on the most read book, even when so many do not want to have a look at it. But they better did.

The Creator of everything has something to say to them and to you.  Whatever your situation is, God will speak to you about it.  Any problem, any obstacle, any hindrance or fear you may have has already been addressed by God in this book.

When you have questions in life it is not bad to pose them. Concerning the Book of books: the question is not “Should I read the Bible” but rather “When will I read the Bible?”

Preceding article:
Bible sayings about God
Bible, helmet of health, salvation and sword of the spirit

The article series to look for:

Dealing with worries in our lives
God’s never-ending stream of much-needed mercies
Best intimate relation to look for
A voice and a Word given for wisdom


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find also:
  1. Creator of heaven and earth and everything aroundיהוה The Only One Elohim who creates and gives all
  2. Bible basic intro
  3. Bible Word of God, inspired and infallible 
  4. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #4 Words in Scripture
  5. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #5 To meditate and Transform
  6. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #6 Words to feed and communicate
  7. True God giving His Word for getting wisdom
  8. The Word of God in print
  9. Bible, helmet of salvation, God’s Words put in the mouth of prophets for perfecting, to reprove and correct
  10. Bible, God speaking words profitable for doctrine, for reproof and for correction
  11. Bible, God’s Word to edify (ERV)
  12. Bible, sword of the Spirit to come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man
  13. Bible, helmet of health, salvation and sword of the spirit
  14.  
  15. No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation
  16. Eternal Word that tells everything
  17. Hearing words to accept
  18. Plain necessary food of the gospel
  19. Looking for wisdom not departing from God’s Word
  20. The holy spirit will bring back to your minds all the things told
  21. True God giving His Word for getting wisdom
  22. Words to inspire and to give wisdom
  23. Bric-a-brac of the Bible
  24. Bible a guide – Bijbel als gids 
  25. Coming to understanding from sayings written long ago
  26. We should use the Bible every day
  27. May reading the Bible provoke us into action to set our feet on the narrow way
  28. Feed Your Faith Daily
  29. The Bible and names in it
  30. Bible power to change
  31. May reading the Bible provoke us into action to set our feet on the narrow way
  32.