Watcher2Warrior

  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...

  If you, like me, have been blessed to be a part of a Church that maintains its teaching strictly through the Word of God, then you may have heard the Pastor mention that you must be careful as to which version of the Bible you are reading. Some of you may have even been recommended a version that your Church uses. But, have you ever asked yourself why books are different, why there are so many, and what makes one “better” than another? Well to answer those questions, we have to take a trip through history. We must look back to the original Hebrew Bible, which for us Christians is the Old Testament. For this topic, we will focus on two of the main different versions of the Hebrew Bible. If you are a visual learner you may want to draw some pictures to keep along since we will be referencing a lot of sources. The Septuagint is the oldest surviving Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. It was written sometime between the third and first century B.C. This is an important detail we...

The translated word LOVE appears in the Bible numerous times. Depending on the translation you are reading, it may vary but for the purpose of this writing, well just say over 300 times including both the Old and New Testament and we will discuss rough numbers just for context in the remaining. In the Old Testament, it is referenced over 130 times and in the New Testament over 200 times.  What is interesting is that t he Old Testament describes Love with one word in Hebrew, AHAB, which describes a variety of intensely close emotional bonds. The first of these is portrayed in Genesis 22:2 “Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” This leaves it up to the reader to add in the context of the surrounding message. From this one verse, it would seem that AHAB is describing a familial love. However in Genesis 24:67, the same word is used to...

    In todays day and age, with so many agendas being pushed and lines being blurred, it can be hard to stand firm in a Biblical stance on sexual immorality, homosexuality, and gender identity. Let’s first start with the Old Testament and see what the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text say in Leviticus 18:22 which translates to“ And thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman, for it is an abomination.” The message is the same in both. Ok so that is pretty clear, lets check the New Testament…Surely when Christ gave us the New Covenant, that antiquated law is void..right? Well lets check the text. When we read  1 Corinthians 6:9-11 it states “ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,  nor thieves, nor  the  covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.   Such were some of y...

I recently came across an article of a very prominent Christian Pastor who has stepped down from his Church amidst allegations of misconduct. It made me start thinking about the pedestal we as a culture place upon our leaders of faith. This entry isn’t written to defend any one individual against any factual or false accusations but it is o bring light to what the Bible tells us we should look for in a leader of the Church.      A pastor must be devoted to his wife; one-woman man ( Titus 1:6 ;  1 Tim 3:2 ). The pastor’s marriage illustrates Christ’s love for His church—His bride ( Eph. 5:22  ff.). A Pastor must love his wife exclusively with his mind, will and emotions and not just his body.  A pastor’s children must be in submission, though not perfect ( Titus 1:6 ;  1 Tim 3:4-5 ). If a man does not know how to manage his own family, he will not know how to take care of God’s church. The first flock for a pastor is his own family as Pastor Dad. A Pastor’s qualificat...

Many times, even throughout the Bible, our faith is described as a race, however it is so much more than that. What race or sport can you think of that the competitors are encouraged to help each other? Can you imagine during the Olympics 500m sprint, every time your competitor trips or stumbles, you stop to help them get up and catch their footing? On the other side, can you imagine playing football completely by yourself with no defense, no back up against a team that’s sole purpose is to see you fail? If you or someone you know has ever bet on a “sure thing” was it ever really guaranteed? Maybe it had a high chance of success but nothing in this life is truly guaranteed except for one undeniable truth: the truth that ultimately, God, the one true God, defeats Satan! Revelations 12:7-12 tells us, “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longe...