Christian Thoughts

A s noted in Acts 22:15, a witness simply testifies what he actually saw and/or heard; he is definitely not at liberty to embellish what he is obligated to say by incorporating heresay or fabrication.   It is important to bear this in mind when checking out the following oft-quoted instruction of Jesus prior to His ascension: “… you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the world.” (Acts 1:8)   The question that immediately springs to mind here is what are His witnesses to testify of.   A possible recourse is to look at what the author of Acts already stated in the gospel he wrote earlier — with both books addressed to the same reader, Theophilus (Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1), mentioned in passing as having interest to “know the certainty of those things in which you [ viz Theophilus] were instructed” (Luke 1:4).   The gospel author dutifully recorded in the last chapter of his first book the following details of Jesus’ instruction (whic

We kick off the discussion by casting a glance at the laymen’s common perception of heaven being God’s perpetual domicile.  Since “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), many have idly wondered where did the Triune God hang out prior to the six-day creation.  It is obviously futile to indulge in such speculation and so we shall check out the following scriptural verses which offer glimpses of divine proceedings presumably held in the heavenly realm: #1      “… there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6 and 2:1) #2       “… above the firmament over the living beings’ heads was the likeness of a throne …; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness of a man high above it … This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord ” (Ezekiel 1:26-28) #3       “… I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple

  Much ink had been spilled thus far over how, as narrated in Genesis 3, the fall of Adam and Eve resulted in sin marring God’s creation (which was originally described by Him  in Genesis 1:31  as “very good”).   Despite the headstrong efforts by feminists to white-wash Eve’s actions in the vicinity of the “tree [bearing fruit] desirable to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6), what has been authoritatively stated by Paul is “Adam was not deceived but the woman, being deceived, fell into transgression” (I Timothy 2:14) — reinforced by the L ord ’s ruling that “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception” and coupled with the divine injunction that “your husband shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16).   The intentional choice of the generic words “woman” and “husband” (in place of the individual names “Eve” and “Adam” respectively) clearly points to the general purview of both I Timothy 2:14 and Genesis 3:16 with the natural inference being that these two verses cannot regarded as f

  That Paul “stayed and worked with them [ viz Aquila and Priscilla] for by occupation they were tent-makers” (Acts 18:3) is an unassuming informational fact which certain Christian factions find rather  appealing .   Their liberal extrapolation of this particular verse has imaginatively led to various scenarios being mooted (and even embraced in some circles) based on the supposition that tent-making can prove to be quite lucrative.   The following serve as possible illustrative examples: ●        buoyed by the prospect of tent-making, a free-spirited missionary may be encouraged to venture abroad for some self-styled ministry there without church covering ●        a pastor need only minister to his flock on week-ends if he is pre-occupied with tent-making during week-days to procure income for living expenses ●        a church ought to found some form of tent-making side-business with the objective of ensuring a stable stream of revenue for funding overseas outreach or even ch