Household of Faith Ezine # 168

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." (Galations 6:10)

Subscribe-It's Free!

Household of Faith Ezine is published by
Joel Hendon
Piedmont, Alabama.
Volume 7, no. 30
September 11, 2007

Photo: All aboard that are coming aboard!

(Disclaimer: Some articles and links to articles published in this ezine may contain false doctrine. They are included due to some valuable content. The fact that they are printed here does not mean that we accept or endorse their doctrine. All writings of men, including ours, should be carefully compared to the New Testament writings.)

Visit the website of the Piedmont (Alabama) church of Christ, where you will find myriad links to valuable Bible study aids, plus free Bible Study Courses, via mail or online: www.piedmontcoc.org.

BEAUTIFUL MEMORY VERSE
(Proverbs 3:3,4)
"Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man." (KJV)

"Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man." (NKJV)

DID JESUS LIVE, OR WHAT?

Some time back, I had an exchange via letters to the editor of our local paper with an atheist. His assertion was that there was evidence that Jesus was a figment of someone's imagination and did not live at all. He used for that, what he called the near absence of His being mentioned by secular writers of the day. And specifically mentioned that Philo did not mention Him at all and that Josephus only had 2 short mentions of Him. He also said that many scholars think that those two statements were added by Christians later on.

Of course he was fantacizing. Philo had no reason to mention Christ since his prime efforts were that of trying to reconcile Jewish writings with that of the Greek language. He lived over three hundred miles from Galilee which was some distance in those days. And anyone who feels that Christians could have successfully altered Josephus' writings after the fact, could be sold an oceanfront cottage in Arizona. His historical writings were under constant scrutiny of the Roman government as well as the Jewish hiearchy.

But since the exchange took place, I have read up on some of the historical accounts of Jesus day and have found that there is no shortage of remarks by writers of that day concerning Him. I could mention a number of them, but an article by Richard Riss, gives some of the best information I've found. I give you a quote here from his paper and will also link to it below for you to go to and read in it's entirety.
One must exercise caution in accepting the claims on non- Christian historians about classical references to the Christian faith. For example, Gibbon, in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. II, states that there was a silence of all writers, except the evangelists, on the darkness over the land at Christ's crucifixion, and that Pliny, who devoted a whole chapter to the enumeration of eclipses and strange things, does not mention it, and would surely have done so if it had been true. However, Pliny's "chapter" is only eighteen words in length: "eclipses are sometimes very long, like that after Caesar's death, when the sun was pale almost a year." Pliny does not mention the darkness, but Celsus does, as do Thallus, Phlegon, Origen, Eusebius, Tertullian, and others, some of them Christians and some opponents of Christ. David Nelson commented, "I am sorry you took the word of that author [Gibbon], splendid as were his talents; for he sometimes penned falsehood without scruple, if religion was his topic."

If I find much more , I may write another article concerning this. But as is usual, the atheist wil say anything to try and appear intelligent.

| Confirmation Of The Bible In The Classics |

| The Historicity of Jesus Christ |

Do I Have To Go To Church?
by Steve Higginbotham
November 8, 2006

Have you ever had questions like that asked of you? Through the years, I have often had people ask the question, "Do I have to go to all the services of the church? I mean, what if I don't go on Sunday night or Wednesday night? Do I have to go at those times if I faithfully go Sunday morning?" Well, allow me to answer that question with a few questions of my own.

Do you have to hug and kiss your little children?
Do you have to remember your wife's birthday?
Do you have to call home when you're late coming home from work?
Do you have to buy Christmas presents for your family?
Do you have to attend ballgames and band functions in which your children are involved?
Do you have to attend the funeral of a close friend or loved one?
Do you have to say, "I love you" when you love someone?

I think you see the point. Sometimes we are guilty of asking the wrong questions. There are some things in life that we don't "have" to do, but we "get " to do. In fact, even asking the question, "Do I have to..." is terribly inappropriate.

When my relationship with my God is based on what I "have" to do and what I don't "have" to do, then I had better take a long hard look at that relationship.

(Copyright © 2006, South Green Street Church of Christ, Glasgow, Kentucky Permission is granted to copy these articles.)

TODAY'S QUOTE(S)
This is the bitterest pain among men, to have much knowledge but no power... Herodotus

If we keep treating our most important values as meaningless relics, that's exactly what they'll become...Michael Josephson

LINKS TO HELP MAKE YOUR DAY!

HOF Ezine Archives

Truth For The World

Wings of Hope

Preacher Training School Online

Traces of the Kingdom

Free Home Bible Study

Mpezeni Park
church of Christ
Chipata, Zambia

The Gospel Gazette Online

Huge List-Study Resources

Kalamindi church of Christ
Ndhiwa, Kenya

Bible Words Correctly Pronounced For You

MUSINGS OF JOEL

I've had several questions and comments concerning Searchwarp, the website of articles where everyone is invited to write. They do have guidelines but they have numerous categories that give you the opportunity to write about almost anything that interests you. They now have over 43,214 articles written by 6,237 authors. I have submitted 10 articles since I began with them approximately 2 months ago, all were accepted and my total views by visitors is 447. That does not necessarily mean that all 447 read the article they visited but I know of no other reason they would have visited it. So you can be read. And it is obvious that the most interesting title is what draws the most viewers.

So, again I encourage all who have an urge to say something publicly, to go to my page searchwarp.com/Author94099.htm, look just to the left of my picture (don't let it captivate you) and you will see two links. The first one is "Author Login" that is not for you until you get registered with them. The one just under it "New Authors Register Here" is the one for you to click and then sign up. Be sure to read their rules and conditions but whatever you do, click on that link FROM MY page. That is the way one becomes a "Featured Author" is having influenced others to sign up. No money involved either way but I guess there is some advantage to being a featured author.(?)

We need lots of good sound articles in that group because there are a number of unsound ones. And it does not have to be religious. If you know the best way to make Hungarian goulash, write about it.

PARTING SHOTS FROM JOEL Rodney Dangerfield's Best	Nadine & Joel Hendon
"I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous - everyone hasn't met me yet." "My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met." "My wife is always trying to get rid of me. The other day she told me to put the garbage out. I said to her I already did. She told me to go and keep an eye on it." May God bless His faithful children, wherever they are.

The Ant and the Dove
AN ANT went to the bank of a river to quench its thirst, and being carried away by the rush of the stream, was on the point of drowning. A Dove sitting on a tree overhanging the water plucked a leaf and let it fall into the stream close to her. The Ant climbed onto it and floated in safety to the bank. Shortly afterwards a birdcatcher came and stood under the tree, and laid his lime-twigs for the Dove, which sat in the branches. The Ant, perceiving his design, stung him in the foot. In pain the birdcatcher threw down the twigs, and the noise made the Dove take wing.

One good turn deserves another...Aesop

(To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this submission with "remove" in the subject line.)

Household of Faith Ezine is published every two weeks beginning in September, 2001. Materials in this are gleaned and compiled by the editor, Joel Hendon. Our purpose is to help present items of interest to those who would learn more of God's word.

Policies & Charges: Subscription to this ezine is free and may be started simply by requesting it via email by Clicking Here. We reserve the right to decline to publish any article, announcement, or other such materials for any reason such as limited space, anything considered undesirable from a Christian's point of view, or any other reason.