Watcher2Warrior

  Romans 10   1.    2 Timothy 2:15 A.       Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 2.    When were Chapters and verses introduced into the Bible as we know them today? A.       Chapters were introduced in the 13 th century by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton,   Verses in the 16 th century by a French printer by the name of Robert Estienne. B.       This is important because much of what Chapter 10 tells us is brought into context from the ending of 9:30-33 as when it was originally written, it was one continuous document.                   A.             Skandalon – Stumbling block/rock of offense – ensnare or entr...

In todays society, we as believers are quick to call ourselves Christians, and ultimately, we would not be entirely wrong, however, it is my belief that we need to go a slight step further.     There are many denominations, practices, and yes even false teachers that claim the title of a Christian, but what are they really teaching? Luke writes in Acts “But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets” Acts 24:14 My understanding is that the early church described in Acts was more aligned as a sect of Judaism than its own religion. This sect differed from standard Judaism due to the fact that they believed (rightfully so) that the prophecies of the Old Testament (which are still the basis for Judaism) had come to fruition, to include the coming of Jesus Christ. There are still those in the Jewish community that fall under this ...

  For the parents out there..specifically the dads but essentially the message is the same across the board.   Where did you learn to be a dad? Was it watching your own father? Are you an identical image of how is parenting was? Are you the complete opposite? Being a reader on this blog, I would like to think we all share some form of parenting skills that align with our religious morals, but I know that may not have been the case of our, quite literal, forefathers.   Our family is currently going through some stressful times, albeit, not life threatening or the like, but stressful nonetheless. Some of these situations require us to be patient while we wait on other entities to make decisions that we ultimately have no control over. Some of these situations require two children under the age of 6 to remain still, calm, and patient, while mom and dad decide what’s best to do for the family next. As you can imagine, that usually only leads to more stressful times and, unfor...

  I think I am getting away from the formal line and getting a bit more informal lately and I do apologize about that. I still love the in-depth research of the history and the languages, but in all honesty, I am finding it more difficult lately with a new job, college, family, kids, etc… not an excuse, just where i am at. Anyways, i wanted to share a little story of this morning where i felt the presence of our creator.  So i have this suv that is about 20 years old (19 actually but who is counting). This thing was top of the line back in the day, leather seats, back up sensors (yes sensors, not camera), and most importantly a flip-down DVD player for the passengers in the back two rows. Now on the most part, the only people that ever even ride in the back of this suv are my two kids. And even more likely, unless we are taking long trip, in dads car, we don’t normally use this DVD player. And based off space, gas mileage, modern accessories, etc… we generally take my wife’s c...

  Lets talk about child discipline. It was recently brought to my attention that some in the secular world see child discipline like spanking as directly linked to Christianity. Supposedly this comes from the age old saying “spare the rod, spoil the child”. Which supposedly is derived from Proverbs 13:24 which says “ He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” Well for starters, I don’t see the word “spoiled” in there at all but, we will dive in nonetheless.    So agreeably in the Old Testament there are multiple references to disciplining children to raise them up the right way. But arguably, is the discipline supposed to be a guide or a punishment? So as discussed, multiple references in the Old Testament, many in Proverbs, all of which state very similar ideas. Essentially, discipline your children to make sure they don’t turn out bad. Pretty simple, right? But what does it mean by discipline? Surely it means spanking or so...

  I had wanted to do a much more drawn out study of this topic but as I was researching another topic, well, i just wanted to get this off my chest. By the way, for context, i was researching false teachers, heretics, and “Christian” cults. so you can see why i got a little frustrated.  Anyways, the bible was not always written with verses/chapters. Each book originally was written as one writing all the way through. It wasn’t until Jerome was writing the vulgate in the 4th century a.d. that he originally started putting the writings into pericopes. that in turn eventually over the centuries led to the standard we use today of modern verses and chapters. So be weary anytime, anyone says in referencing quotes from New Testament to old something along the lines of, “its odd that they would only quote a portion of that verse from the Old Testament and not the whole verse.” No its not, they, whether it was Jesus, or a disciple quoted the portion of the Bible that they wanted to re...

  Lets jump right into the history of the name “Christian”. The term comes from Acts 11:26 which says “ and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” So yes, you are reading that right, the disciples didn’t call themselves Christians, they were called by others in Antioch. This name was given to them by the world, originally to identify, categorize, and persecute them. The name Christian comes from the Greek, Χριστιανός pronounced Christianos which literally means “follower of Christ”.    Up until this point and even after, the disciples were called followers of The Way. In Acts 24:14 Paul states  "But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets;” So at this t...

  Have you ever wondered where the term “going the extra mile” originated? Well lets travel back to Biblical times and find out.     In the times of Imperial Rome which extended from around 27 BC to 476 AD, it was a law that a Roman soldier, could demand any individual except a Roman Citizen to carry his armor/gear for a “Roman Mile”. The Latin phrase was Mille Passus which directly translates to 1,000 paces. If the individual refused, they could be arrested and imprisoned. Obviously, this was not a very popular law for a multitude of reasons and if there was a way to get out of it, many would try or at the very least, not be happy/joyous during the event.   So in Matthew 5:41 when Jesus says “ Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” This law is what he was referencing. He was telling his followers, even if you have to do something you don’t necessarily want to do, do it with a joyous heart and do more than what is asked as the bare minimum.   This ...

  Which Herod was it? The New Testament is filled with references to a “Herod” as a king, in fact, about 45 times. However, it references on to the time of Jesus birth along with another who killed James and imprisoned Peter. Were they the same person? Why did they want to kill Jews and then followers of Christ? Lets take a dive into biblical history and find out.   To lay out the current context in the New Testament, we first have to travel back to the Old Testament timeline. In 323 BC, Alexander the Great (who was a Macedonian Greek) died. This led to three of his generals fighting for his empire, (I will use the modern names of the places they took over for ease of reading). Seleucus took over Syria and Asia Minor, Ptolemy took control of Egypt and Israel, and Antigonus secured Greece itself. For 125 years, the Land of Israel was between a rock and a hard place with both the Seleucids and the Ptolemies battling for more land to include Israel. The Seleucids finally won in 1...

  -I believe that the scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, fully inspired without error. I believe there are incorrect translations and blatant false teachings created to dissuade and discredit God’s message to the Church. -I believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons: The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.    -I believe that all people are sinners by nature and choice, falling short of God’s standard and breaking His commandments and in turn, fall under God’s righteous judgment. However, God saves and gives new life to all who come to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross, absorbing God’s wrath that should have come upon us. I believe Jesus Christ was resurrected from death three days after his death on the cross.   -I believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. I believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church.      ...

  There are nine instances in the KJV Old Testament original variations that the word “Unicorn” is used. The word changes based on varying translations but for now just note that these 9 specific times, the context surrounding it is used to describe something stronger or more powerful than your average ox. The context is key so a lot of your newer translations may say something like wild ox, or buffalo, or something like that. The key is something more powerful than an ox and in this period of the world in this region of the world, there is not much that is known to the common man that is more powerful than his ox. He used it for everything in everyday life. In any case lets get into the historical context first. Lets debunk the unicorn theory first. In the 5th century B.C. , Greek Physician, Ctesias, who worked for the King of Persia, collected and compiled stories from traders and merchants of India into a book called Indica. There are various stories within the book but one port...