What Happened to the Wise Men's Gifts - Thought Provoking Religious Ideas on Christianity

Do you ever wonder what ever happened to the Wise men's gifts that were given to Jesus's parents? Nobody ever talks about it and it was never mentioned again in the Bible. If it was mentioned again I would love to have somebody e-mail me some more information on what Joseph and Mary did with the gifts, that were given to the newborn King or in other words Jesus.

I didn't come up with this idea on my own, I was reading a book by George Seaver called Albert Schweitzer "The Man and His Mind." I found the book in a thrift store near Seattle, Washington while on vacation visiting one of my relatives. I heard a lot about Albert Schweitzer from various personal development and spiritual books and thought this book would be give me some insight on the man.

I really had no clue, that I would find something like this within the first few pages.

Here's a quote from the book.

When I was eight my father, at my own request, gave me a New Testament, which I read eagerly. Among the stories which interested me most was that of the Wise Man from the East. What did the parents of Jesus due, I asked myself, with the gold and other valuables that they got from the Wise men? How could they have been poor after that? And that the Wise men should never have troubled themselves again about the child Jesus, was to me uncomprehensible.

Now this is coming from an eight year old child, not someone who has researched biblical scripture their whole lives. What else are we missing in the Bible that doesn't make sense but we were trained to believe in our religions without ever questioning your religion . It's definitely something to think about and the next time you're reading something or listening to the news on TV, try to figure out if it's fact or fiction.

You definitely cannot believe everything you read or hear from outside sources. I heard once that the only things that are truly real are the things that never change. If you think about it, most things change and therefore would not be considered real.

Ponder That for a While.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Here's a good website if you're interested in, religious classics and looking for evidence.

Greg is currently working on a religious and motivational articles filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Attracting A Mate Into Your Life

Dealing with Grief with Jack Canfield

Creating super habits are easier than you could ever imagine. Most people have something they would like to change in their lives. If you ask anyone, they are usually able to answer this question, "If you could change anything about yourself, what would you change." All the self help and personal development programs and Books available today are full of useful information that nobody seems to take advantage of. You've seen the TV commercials and listen to other people tell their stories, about how they lost weight.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a self help video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Programming Yourself For Success
Thinking Outside The Box

If I Hate My Brother Am I a Murderer? - Christianity

Hate is such a strong word, it's almost like you're murdering someone, just by using it. Whenever I say the words, "I hate you," it makes me feel bad and creates an uncomfortable feeling that runs throughout my body. I rarely use this word in normal conversation, because I realized a long time ago that there are very few things or people that I actually do hate. I might dislike some of their activities but to say that I hate them, seems to be a little out of my character.

While I was working on one of my books, I ran across something in the New Testament that is very confusing to me. Here's the verse that I am referring to, "1 John 3:15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him."

And here's the question that I have for the day, what exactly is brother referring to? I hear a lot of people in Christian churches, referring to each other as brother or sister. Is the author of 1John referring to everyone, fellow Christians, or fellow believers in God or is the author referring to your immediate family.

What does the word hate actually mean? To dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy; to hate bigotry. This should give you a pretty good idea what the word hate actually does mean. If I was to stand in the street and yell at someone, waving my fist violently, this could be taken as extreme hostility towards that person.

Am I only allowed to do this once, 10 times or a hundred times. It sounds like anyone who raises their voice to send an extremely hostile message towards another, might be considered a murderer. The Bible is very confusing and hard to understand, especially in a situation like this.

If this verse is true, I would imagine that 99% of all the people in the world are considered murderers, according to the New Testament and will not get to enter the kingdom of heaven, if eternal life is referring to the kingdom of heaven. In other words, if you've ever disliked someone passionately, you're not going to be living an eternal life.

Christian Sermon Evaluation

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a Religious Ideas filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

W Clement Stone

Is Mary Magdalene and More Than a Christian Legend - Movie Video

This video has more information on Mary Magdalene, great video on advanced spiritual thinking.

If you're really seeking the kingdom of heaven, the glory of God and the true vision that Jesus had, check out some great Christian articles . These articles are designed to teach and educate Christians.

Norman Vincent Peal

Luck is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity

You must be ready when an opportunity comes before you, opportunity often comes in the form of work and that's why most people seem to miss it. Most people are too busy looking for the easy path through life. They seem to lay around waiting for the opportunity of a lifetime,... to simply fall at your feet.

Why would you want to spend so much time complaining about something, or someone? Other people can help you along the way, if you let them, but it's up to you, ultimately, to become the most you can possibly be. I have had plenty of opportunities in my life and have took advantage of some, while letting most of them pass by.

I'm no different than most people but now seem to be aware of my surrounding opportunities, all the time.

How many times do you wish for an opportunity to come along? It's probably one that you missed already, at some point during your life. Are you going to be prepared for the next opportunity when it comes along? These opportunities seem to repeat themselves throughout our lives and if we're not in the right state of mind, we often overlook them and let them pass by, time and time again.

You need to prepare yourself in advance for the next opportunity. If you are prepared and have your eyes open, you will be able to see the next opportunity that comes your way. Preparation will increase your chances for success and good fortune always.

Opportunities come in all shapes and sizes. Be on the lookout, when you're walking to the grocery store, taking a break at work, reading the newspaper, talking to your neighbor, walking down the street or even while you are sitting alone, letting your mind wander away. Your chances for success could come while your in your quiet places, or relaxing. Be prepared.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Creating Success For Teenagers

The Beast From The Sea

Believers must feel nervous when yet one more brother attempts to describe what some feel is unknowable information. I feel nervous myself. Oh, the incredible ignorance displayed by persons with unworthy motives. They seek to dazzle or entertain. But regardless of the foolishness abounding in books and video and internet, the mystery before us is still beckoning to be solved. The Lord Himself has told us that herein is wisdom. Persons of understanding, He says, should know what these things are about.

Revelation 13:1-10 and 17:8-14 provide a basic profile of the last-day world ruler known generally today as antichrist. In the Scriptures he is more often called the Beast, or the man of sin, or the little horn. There is actually a lot of Biblical content that points his way, but we will confine today's comments to the verses mentioned. Here are some no-doubt facts that we can glean. And once we establish facts, no one can come our way with off-the-wall suggestions about this or that man, or this organization, etc.

• He comes from the sea, 13:1. Not like his partner of the latter half of the chapter, who has a normal earth-bound existence. He comes from below, from the pit. I will not be surprised if he literally makes an entrance from the sea, just as the text says. These two passages, together with II Thessalonians 2, let us know that he is now being held back by a restraining angel. When he is released he must find a way to get to the land. God says his entrance will be by signs and wonders.
• His seven heads are equated with seven mountains, 17:10. Both of these symbols speak of empire, political leadership. The traditional interpretation - and I have nothing better at this point - is to simply point to the seven world empires that history and Scripture enumerate: Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the coming ten-nation confederation that rises out of Rome. On each of these mountains has at one time sat a despot who hated the God of Israel, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He persecuted, enslaved, and/or tried to annihilate the people of God. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Sennacherib, Epiphanes, Xerxes, Trajan, are possible entries.
• The ten crowned horns represent the final rule of a man of sin 13:1,2. He will incorporate aspects of former kingdoms but will be different in his full devotion to and filling with the evil spirit of Satan.
• The final world ruler has already lived and reigned. He was mortally wounded, was held by spiritual angelic powers behind the scenes, and will be revealed when the time is right to continue Satan's quest for world power. Hence it is fruitless to guess his identity among the sons of men. He is invisible now. The only way to know who he is is to know the history of anti-God rulers. Most if not all of these men are alluded to in Scripture. Some I have listed above. So the simple-minded lovers of God will know the truth, not the erudite theologians and thinkers and scholars. It's in the Book!
• He will be characterized by blasphemy. His name will be blasphemous. He will constantly openly blaspheme Heaven, and the world will worship him for it. That's called political correctness. His blasphemous name, when taken a letter at a time and calculated, using numerical equivalents for each letter, will add up to 666. I have not yet been able to crack that code. Yet I believe God wants us to know, so I will continue to seek. Many have devised ingenious plans of calculation, and it seems that many historical names add up to 666. No matter. We start with the facts that we already have and we don't let them go. Fact is, as I stated, he has already reigned and won't be back until he reigns again. That knocks out most of the numerical guesswork.

There is much more, but the above should suffice to whet one's appetite. For me, I've come close to settling on Antiochus Epiphanes, since Daniel's 11th chapter seems to point that way. And Epiphanes is a blasphemous word when applied to anyone but God. It means, "a (Divine) manifestation." Another candidate could be that Assyrian ruler, Sennacherib, who was killed with a sword. The story is in your Bible. And the "sword" part points to a phrase in Revelation 13 that says the original "head" of the beast was wounded with a sword.

No, I don't have all the answers on this. I am confident of the bulleted parts above. And I am equally confident that anyone who will dig for these treasures will find them and be so far ahead of the crowd.

It has been my custom lately to say a word about North Korea in every piece I write. Today's thought is pretty easy. The coming world ruler will feel just a bit familiar to the North Koreans. Hatred of God. Hatred of Christians and Jews. Torture, torments. Isolation. Demand for worship. Look to NK for a picture of what the entire planet will one day experience. Thank God it will be the last of Earth's experiences before the true Ruler comes and brings peace and joy and the liberty of the sons of God. Oh Jesus, come!

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Creating A Habit

He is God? Or He is Nuts, a Liar, a Blasphemer?

"Christianity is not the only truth in the world but it is the only complete truth." C.S. Lewis

There is a big problem in our world today, "What do we do about or what do we think about Jesus. For the Christian, He is everything. For believers of Judaism He is yet to come, for the Muslim he is but a great teacher and for other religions he is insignificant. Regardless of what you, dear reader, believe on the subject, I would think you would have to agree that Jesus is probably the most divisive subjects and the reason for much of the hatred that exists in the world today.

The opening statement by C. S. Lewis, "Christianity is not the only truth in the world but it is the only complete truth," will be offensive to some, but I want to explore is merits or it faults with you. Lewis is saying that he is willing to declare that there are elements of truth in all religious beliefs, but after much study and "sole" searching, he has determined Christianity is the most complete of all beliefs. Is it?

For us to get a definitive insight into the statement by Lewis, we need to get a glimpse of Lewis in real life. C. S. Lewis (Better know for his books The Chronicles of Narnia) was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1898. Lewis, a confirmed atheist, was accepted at Oxford; and two friends he met there, J.R.R. Tolkien (A Roman Catholic and author of Lord of the Rings) and Owen Barfield (a new Christian convert) challenged him and in 1929 Lewis became a theist, acknowledging the possibility that a God did exist; two years later, 1931, he became a Christian. Some of the other books by Lewis are: Pilgrim's Regress, Mere Christianity, The Abolition of Man, Miracles, The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters, and the Great Divorce are a few.

Being inspired by the life and works of C.S. Lewis, I have determined to try to reason with those of you who do not believe in God, to those of you who say that somebody had to create the world (theist), to those of you who believe in only one God, (monothiest) to those of you who believe in a triune God, and to those of you who are in a state of spiritual confusion, a task for which I am not sure I am up to. Nevertheless, the following is my attempt at doing just that.

Theist, atheist, monotheist and agnostic

A theist is someone who believes that there is a creative force behind the universe coming into existence. An atheist is someone who simply does not believe in God. A monotheist is a person who believes in one God and one God only. An agnostic is a person who wants to believe in God but is always confused as to his existence.

I tell you about Lewis, because he goes from not believing in a God, to the possibility of there being a God and ultimately that not only was there a God, but that God became flesh and dwelt among men. In other words he came to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God as well as God Himself and that the Holy Spirit is God also. In other words, Lewis believed in the Trinity, that God was God, Jesus was God and the Holy Spirit was God.

That may very well parallel your life or it could be the complete opposite of your life. At this point in time I am not concerned with whether you acknowledge Jesus as being God or not. What I want to explore with you is both sides of the issue. If Jesus was not who he said he was, God incarnate, he was the biggest nut, liar and blasphemer the world had known at the time. Why do I say that?

One of the many problems a writer has to deal with is, "Where do I start?" I have chosen to start with Jesus Christ. He either was who he said he was, God, or He was the biggest nut, liar, or blasphemer that ever lived. Since we find his claim to be God, found in the Christian Bible, we will use that as a basis to prove or disprove his claim to be God and thus be able to forgive sins.

Let's explore some of the passages in the Christian Bible concerning Jesus:

" But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins," is found in three of the Gospels: Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:10 and Luke 5:24.

If you walked down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana today and heard someone saying they had power to forgive sins, what would you think about that? Go back in time to when the above text was written. This "man" Jesus was telling the multitude that exact same thing. Was he nuts, or was he who he said he was, God incarnate and the very Son of God?

Suppose we are intrigued enough to continue listening to this prophet of Bourbon Street, and before long he said the following, which is found in the Gospel of John chapter 1:1-3: " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.

The Prophet of Bourbon Street is intimating, that in the very beginning, not only was he with God, but that he was God and everything in the world that was made was made by him. Was he nuts, or was he who he said he was?

We are still standing there listening and we hear this said, as is found in John 1:10-14: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

And now the Prophet of Bourbon Street is telling us he has the power to make you and I become the sons of God. And quoting from John 1:18: No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. This Prophet of Bourbon Street is now telling us that you are looking at God. Was he nuts, or was he who he said he was?

I do not know about you, but I would be very skeptical about this so called Prophet of Bourbon Street and I would probably say not only was He nuts but somebody ought to lock the man up or do away with him completely. And that is exactly what happened in 33 AD/C.E. when the Jewish leaders of the day did not accept the words of Jesus and demanded that he be killed (crucified).

Matthew 15:9-10 : But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

Matthew 15:12-13: And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him.

Perhaps you are Jewish and are still looking for Messiah. Perhaps you are as skeptical, or envious, about Jesus too, perhaps not. Perhaps you do not know enough to "make the call one way or the other." Perhaps you are Muslim and believe as the Quran does, that He was a prophet but not the Son of God, and surely not God himself, but only a messenger of God.

Quran 4:171 O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not "Three" - Cease! (it is) better for you! - Allah is only One Allah. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender.

Quran 5:75 The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food. See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!

This we know: The Jews are expecting Jesus to come someday. The Muslims say he came but was only a messenger from God. The Christians say not only has he come but that he is God. We can say for certain, that all of these religious viewpoints acknowledge a Jesus. Was he who he said he was, or was he a nut?

If he was not who he said he was, he was completely nuts and should not be taken seriously; If he was who he said he was, you need to find out more about him. That is what I have done, and I challenge you to do the same.

I believe that Jesus is God and that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe the Son of God came to earth where He dwelt for 33 years. I believe that the Jews of that time thought him to be a blasphemer and persuaded King Agrippa to allow his crucifixion. I also believe He was crucified and buried for the sins of the world and that three days later God resurrected him for the justification of man's sin.

You see, I do not believe Jesus was a nut nor a liar nor a blasphemer. I believe He was who he claimed to be: God.

In 1975 Obed began a non-denominational church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was the pastor-teacher there for twenty-five years. In 2000 he and his wife Linda moved to Franklin, Tennessee to be near three of his six grandchildren.

Obed has published two books on how one should study the Bible and numerous pamphlets on religious issues. He often travels to speak at Bible conferences in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and his adopted state of Tennessee.

Obed and Linda have three sons, Wayne, who lives in Brentwood, Tennessee with his wife Fran and three children, and is a songwriter/producer; Karey, who lives in Pacific Palisades, California with his wife Nada and three children, and is a screen writer/director; and Brent, who lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Agneiszka and is a singer/songwriter.

Luck Is What Happens When