...I think about how God connects with us. We as Christians should feel a call to serve God, and we know and believe that God is God and can do anything. However it’s the moments when God truly calls on us or gives us a calling that we find ourselves in a situation where we completely align ourselves with him. When God makes this connection with us it does more than just give us direction on where to go. In these sacred moments with God we are given something concrete that we can go back to, and remember the intimacy of the moment that gives us strength to keep the fight. These moments don’t happen everyday, and we cannot stay in them forever. We must fight to get into that presence everyday by crucifying our fleshly desires. God called Abraham through divine visitation. God called Joseph through a...
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...Abraham Is an Example of Biblical Faith Biblical Faith Abraham is a great representation of biblical faith. Faith is defined as loving trust, calculated risk, and an ongoing process with periods of darkness and doubt. Faith is seen in many religious people all throughout the bible. Abraham displays all of these things when he is asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham’s story involved loving trust in that Abraham loves God. Abraham loves God because they made a covenant together and worked together. God told Abraham to move from Haran and go to Canaan; he will have decedents as numerous as the stars, and access to the promise land. Abraham had to trust God when he told Abraham to kill his only son Isaac, even though it didn’t make sense. Abraham also had to love God because God is providing him with these promises that will change and improve his life. God and Abraham had a one and one relationship where loving trust was both given and received between the two of them. Abraham’s story also involved calculated risk. Calculated risk involves using reason and logic, weighing your opinion, and making a decision. Abraham used logic and reason to try and validate God’s request to sacrifice Isaac. He then weighed his opinion and realized that denying God’s request was a risk he could not afford not to take. He could not afford not to take this risk because if he didn’t trust God then their covenant would be tarnished and broke. Abraham then made the decision to sacrifice his...
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...In the short story “Parker’s Back,” Christian writer Flannery O’Connor introduces her readers to O.E. Parker and Sarah Ruth and their relationship. On the surface the story covers the increasingly tattooed Parker’s inexplicable attraction towards uptight Sarah Ruth and their ill-fated marriage. However, O’Connor wrote much more into her short story than just the obvious narrative. Through contrasting characters, symbolism, and allusions, O’Connor communicates a deeper message of redemption to her readers as she explores God’s calling of even the most distant and hostile individuals. Straight from the start of the story O’Connor begins to contrast her two main characters. Sarah Ruth is described as “plain, plain,” with skin “drawn as tight as the skin on an onion” and eyes “grey and sharp like the points of two icepicks” (219). This description evidences the lifelessness and harsh unforgiving nature of Sarah Ruth. Parker is less directly characterized but it is revealed that he is an open sinner – admitting to fornication, gambling, and swearing – and was almost entirely covered in extraordinarily colorful tattoos. Sarah Ruth proudly owns up to the Old Testament roots of her name while Parker chooses to go by his last name rather than use his given name, Obadiah Elihue. The reader recognizes that Parker is running from God while Sarah Ruth is living a Pharisaical life of rules and judgments. Sarah is by all indications the best person to lead Parker to God but in the end is...
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...Allah “was the creator and sustainer of life” (Molly, M., 1999, Page 425.) Christianity believes that God is the creator and sustainer of life. Judaism also believes that God is the creator and sustainer of life. All three religion believes there is a higher power. Islam describes Jesus as a prophet as described here, “He encountered angels and the great prophets of the past, including Abraham and Jesus,” (Molly, M., 1999, Page 428) Judaism also describes Jesus as a prophet as well because Jesus, in their opinion, did not save the Jews. They believed that the real Messiah was going to become their military leader on earth and create an Eden in Jerusalem. They had expected the real Messiah to expel the Romans and rule the new world. (Molly, M., 1999, Page 346) Both the Jews and Islam are able to trace their way back to Abraham. The Jews are the descendant of Isaac and Islam is the descendant of Ishmael. Ishmael’s mother was Hagar, who was Sarah’s slave, and his father was Abraham. Isaac’s mother and father were Sarah and Abraham. (Molly, M., 1999, Page 431) Hagar and Ishmael were split from Abraham because...
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...The Five Pillars of Islam are the basic spiritual practices required on all Muslims. They were taught by theologians after the death of the Prophet Muhammad as the actions was defined on what it meant to be a member of the Muslim community. The first pillar of Islam is the Shahadah to believe in and to profess the unity of God and the messenger-ship of Muhammad: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God,” to which Shi’ites add “and ’Ali is the Master of the believers.” The Second pillar of Islam is the Salaat which is the performance of a continual round or prayers. For five times a day they are to perform ablutions with water or with sand/dirt if water is not available, face Mecca, and to recite a series of prayers and passages from the Qur’an, bowing and kneeling. The third pillar Zakat which is charity or almsgiving which the Qur’an links with prayer. A payer is only accepted if the person also shares it amongst others. At the end of the year all Muslims have to donate some of their accumulated wealth to needy Muslims this is to help decrease any inequalities in wealth and to prevent any personal greed. The fourth pillar is fasting, frequent fasting are recommended, but there is only one that is obligatory which is during Ramadan. This fast is to commemorate the first revelations of the Qur’an to Muhammad which requires a dawn to sunset abstention from food, drink, sexual intercourse, and smoking for the month to everybody who are beyond puberty, but not...
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...After Caravaggio’s Sacrifice of Isaac The bible states that in ancient times, Abraham, the father of many nations, was commanded by God to sacrifice his only son and heir, Isaac, for the lands of Moriah and to verify his love and fear for God. As Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, he was interrupted by the angel of the LORD. His willingness to give up his son was enough proof for God and Isaac would live. In the short story After Caravaggio’s Sacrifice of Isaac (written by Rachel Cusk, published in 2003) the main character, Alan, is involved in the same situation as Abraham. Gerte wants Alan to choose between his son Ian or herself. The story takes place in modern day London and the fundamental layout of the story is the narrator Alan reminiscing the instance he almost left his wife Sally for the German teacher Gerte. Alan lived a terribly ordinary life before the birth of his son, Ian. "I looked back at the life I’d lived and thought, how could you have done this and that, how could you have been so ordinary?" (line 53) His wife suffered of what can only be interpreted as a form of depression. She could not stand being near the child when it cried. It made her mad. This caused Alan to take an unpaid leave from his work to take care of his son. One day when walking Ian around London, Alan discovers an art exhibition which fascinates him in an unknown way. He attends the exhibition and finds himself very intrigued by the renaissance artwork. It makes him stop...
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...Abraham, also known as Abram is most commonly known for being the Father of the Jewish people. The majority of the information found on Abraham is located in the Old Testament’s Book of Genesis. Other than that, there are no real historical records on the life of Abraham, so the history of his life was passed by word of mouth, and were there after made into biblical stories. There is also the question if Abraham really lived, do to the little information available on his life. Abraham is most famous for making his Covenant with God. Abraham would have lived somewhere between the years of 2000 and 1500 BC. He was born in the city of Ur. Abraham’s real name was Abram. The father of Abram , Terach, had two other sons , Haran and Nachor. While living in the city of Ur , Abram married his half-sister, Sarai who later took on the name of Sarah. The newlyweds later learned that Sarai was sterile. They then traveled north to Charan, accompanied by Abraham’s father Terach. While in Charan Terach died. It was in Charan where God made his first of a series of revelations to Abram. God spoke to Abram, and told him that he would promise to bless him and make a great nation of him. Abram willingly decided to follow God to the city of Canaan. Abram not only traveled with his wife on this journey, but he also picked up his nephew, Lot. He lived his life in Canaan as a Nomad. Famine eventually struck the land of Canaan , forcing Abram and his family to move on to Egypt. In Egypt, Abram was...
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...The Story of Abraham and Sarah (Children's Version) Once there was a man named Abram. One day the Lord came to talk to Abram, and Abram asked, "Who will have all my things when I die". God promised Abram and his wife Sarai that one day they would be parents, even though they were old and had no children. God wasn't sure that Abram understood. So that night He took him outside, and said, "Do you see all the stars that are in the sky"? When Abram looked up, the whole night sky was full of stars, so many in fact that he would never be able to count them. Then God said, "That is how many children you will have". Quite a few years later when Abram was ninety-nine years old (older than even your grandparents) the Lord decided to change Abram's name to Abraham, which means "father of many." He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah. God told them again that they would be parents and that they would have a boy. This time Abraham laughed so hard he fell on his face! It was hard to believe that he and Sarah would have a child in their old age. One day three visitors came to Abraham's house. He hurried to meet them. "May I get you something to eat and drink?" Abraham asked. "Please come in and join us, and have a rest on the couch." The visitors agreed, so Abraham brought them some fresh bread, milk, and hamburgers. While the visitors were eating, they asked Abraham, "Where is your wife Sarah?" Abraham thought this was a little strange, but he replied, "She's in the...
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...AFRICAN CHRISTIAN APOSTOLIC REVELATION OF MARRIAGE Many abuses, especially of women and children, happen under foreign practices which are falsely labeled African traditions, arts and culture, interestingly such classifications are made by non-Africans or Africans who Steve Biko said have “colonized minds”. When God send many foreign missionaries to Africa, in His grace to teach them, they generally see things differently. Many of them believe that they are bringing the Gospel to Africa, and do not, if not refuse, to see what is truly the position, to wit, that the Gospel is bringing them to Africa, mainly in God’s quest to teach them that the world is bigger and offer more than what they know. Because of the teachings sometimes, some Christians who are Africans tend to seek to undermine their practices and culture, as if accepting Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Saviour has as its pre-condition a denial of being an African. We were created Africans. It is God’s choice. We must live with it, and others must accept us as we are. It is the practice, custom and culture of marriage, as practiced by Africans, that is our discussion today. This discussion seeks to show that our practices are not foreign to Godly practices or Christian belief. A step by step exposition with Biblical references show that our traditional marriages have similarities with the Jewish traditions of old as recorded in the Bible. None of them stands in contra-distinction to the teachings of...
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...I found the chapter 20 There is No God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet very interesting to read. I’ve had previous knowledge about the Islamic Religion and the Arab people past of advances of mathematics in history when I was deployed to Kuwait but this chapter was shortly informative overall about the religion and past accomplishments on the Arab people. Although I don’t agree with the teachings of Muhammad I found the chapter interesting to read about the history of the birth of the Islam and the development of chemistry and algebra. As a Christian myself I believe that there is only one God and that Jesus is the child of God. That being said I don’t believe in the prophet Muhammad who was said to have come to teach the way of the Lord. I also I don’t agree on Muhammad’s teaching instructing that people should pray five times a day facing the holy city Mecca. In the Bible it is said that we as Christians should pray to God at all times continuously communicating to him. The last topic I do not agree with is having to take a pilgrimage traveling to the holy city Mecca once a year. In the Bible it tells us that when Jesus died on the Cross he created an open communication between God and us in which we don’t have to go to a certain place or have a certain person to be able to have communication with the Lord or to talk to Him and feel His presence we are able to do this ourselves. Although I do not agree with the teachings of Islam taught by Muhammad I did find the...
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...The Gay Debate Dear Mr. Robertson, Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them. a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them? b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense. d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians? e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating...
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...(the first sin – Adam and Eve), flood (God called Noah to build an ark, so God could restore creation by a flood), and then the formation of the new nations (confusion of languages). To really grasp the reading of Genesis, one must understand that the text centers on God’s promises. The major events are the creation of life (heavens, earth, man, and woman), temptation, sin, first murder, flood, and life after. The main personalities in Genesis are: God, Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Abram (Abraham), and so on. Abraham Abraham, or Abram, lived from about 2166 – 1991 B.C., as they say. Abraham was young when God called him for an assignment. He was faithful and did as he was told. His story is told in Genesis 11 – 25, but he is also mentioned in Exodus, Acts, Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. The first Hebrew, Abram, born in Ur of the Chaldeans, but most of his life was spent in Canaan, where God called him to venture out, to an unfamiliar place, which is now Israel. God made a promise to Abraham that if he took this trip to this unfamiliar place, He (God) would give land,...
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...In the Beginning, God The first lesson from the Book of Genesis is that from the beginning, actually before the beginning, there was only God (Gen 1:1; John 1:1-2). Theologian and author R.C. Sproul said that “If there ever was a time that absolutely nothing existed, all there could possibly be now is nothing.” God’s existence cannot be refuted by empirical knowledge. It is impossible to disprove His existence. Many will say that the burden of proof for His existence is on the believer but there is nowhere in the Bible that believers are told to defend the existence of God for the creation is evidence in itself that it had a beginning. What in the universe did not have a cause? For anyone to say categorically that, “There is no God,” is to make an absolute statement for which cannot be proved. The universe did not create itself and we know that there was a beginning in space and time for the universe. Without concrete evidence or proof, how can the atheist declare with absoluteness that there is no God? The Book of Romans says as much when Paul wrote “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their...
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...understand this question, let's call our dear old Abraham and Yitzhak and let's focus especially on the harder trial of life of Abraham, the sacrifice of Yitzhak. Note: in this context we will not try to explain and understand this trial but more limit our interest on how it can help us to better understand the necessity for End of Life process. How can we understand Abraham? His entire life was to fight against idolatry and human sacrifices. And when God asks him to sacrifice his "favorite" son, he does not hesitate to do it! Still today, this remains for me a mystery. Most of the ideas I will explain here are taken from the kabala. Some are more personal view. Abraham represents the kindness, the grace, the infinite love and generosity. In Canaan, Abraham was inviting in his hut everyone and his tent was opened in every direction. Yitzhak is less popular and represents the severity, the fear and heroism at the same time. He was aware that Abraham would sacrifice him and he overcame his fear. In a certain way, Yitzhak is the second generation of serving God. Abraham was serving with Mercy, kindness and Yitzhak is serving with fear, with laws, with limits. But Abraham has a difficulty to understand this. The love, the grace is infinite and Abraham is fundamentally universal. He wants to bring everyone to recognize and serve God. When Yitzhak is becoming an adult (at the moment of the Sacrifice, he is 37 years old), Abraham does not really understand the necessary for...
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...Abrahams Covenant with God Abraham takes a great leap of faith with God. Abraham leaves behind everything to fulfill his covenant with God. Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12, 1-3). Abraham and God are entering into a covenant together, God is promising these things to Abraham and in return Abraham is promising his faith to God. God proves to Abraham that he will protect him, in Genesis 12, 17-20; 17 But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. God is proving to Abraham that they are in this covenant together, God inflicted hardship onto the Pharaoh who had taken Abrahams wife as his own. Abraham’s wife was returned to him after the hardship God had placed on the Pharaoh. God reinforces his covenant with Abraham; Genesis 15, 18-21; 18...
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