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Addresses topics that don't generally get touched on in church but that many teens struggle with: https://www.miqteens.com/miq-blog

Gustave said in the quote below: There have been books written on this subject. As Gustave known, Sunday keeping entered the early church over a period of years, and at differing times based upon geography. In actual fact, at one time, in some places, the Sabbath was celebrated on both the days we know as Saturday and Sunday

I decided to check out Gustave's use of the Biblical texts. In doing so, I have referenced both the NIV and The Catholic Bible: Personal Study Edition. * Hebrews 10:25: No mention as to the 1st day of the week and not implied by Gustave. * I Corinthians 16:1-2: No mention of meeting to worship, Simply a day to do one's book keeping and set aside the money to be given to the author of this Biblical book when he arrived. * Acts 20:7: The one verse which which mentions the 1st Day of the week. It does not state that this was their common day to meet together. It only tells us that It was a special meeting in that Paul addressed them just prior to begin his journey the next day. It is not a sin to have a worship service on any day of the week. Yes, it states that they "broke bread.' That term could imply a celebration of the Lord's Supper, Or it could imply that Paul was a very long speaker and they all had a meal together. In any case, that one verse does not demonstrate conclusive support for Gustave's positon.

My most interesting source for studying the enfolding of paganism into the Roman church comes from a book by Ralph Woodrow entitled "Babylon, Mystery Religion" . Of interest, Woodrow has listed his sources of information and the Catholic Encyclopedia is very commonly listed as the source of his quotes. So, to the original question of saints taking the place of the pagan gods from from the heathen nations that preceded the Roman church, I found the fourth chapter of his book dedicated to the saints to be very enlightening as to the fact that saints were recycled pagan gods, but also a source of the rationale for such. He also discussed what a saint is in contrast to Scripture definition of a saint, the use of the idols of the pagans, and how saints have taken over the functions of the pagan gods. Woodrow brings up the Council of Trent when he quotes "the saints who reign together with Christ offer up their own prayers to God for men." He later states that "They are told to worship God and then to "pray, first to Saint Mary, and the holy apostles, and the holy martyrs, and all God's saints ... to consider them as friends and protectors, with the hope that God would grant to the patron what he might otherwise refuse to the supplicant."" Woodrow notes that Many of the old legends that had been associated with the pagan gods were transferred over to the saints. The Catholic Encyclopedia even says these "Legends repeat the conceptions found in the pre-christian religious tales ... the legend is not Christian, only Christianized" Woodrow detailed how gods and goddesses were associated with various events in life including days of the years, occupations, illnesses, and many other concerns of lifes. Some examples include: Astronomers St. Cominic Bankers St. Matthew Doctors St. Luke Musicians St. Cecilia Domestic Animals St. Anthony Old Maids St. Andrew To obtain a husband St. Joseph Blindness St. Raphael Epilepsy, nerves St. Vitus (St. Vitus's Dance) Heart Trouble St. John of God You will recall in the OP, there were many gods listed for specific events such as the god of death, wheat (harvests), and so on. The Babylon system of gods numbers up to 5,000 of these gods. The saint system has reached nearly 10,000 of these lesser gods! Given that in many ways, the Roman religion mirrors the Babylonian system of worship it is little surprise that Babylon is the name of the false system of worship in Revelation. Herodotus wrote, "Babylon was the source from which all systems of idolatry flowed to the nations." Woodrow also detailed how pagan idols were simply renamed as Christian saints. Sometimes saints were given similar sounding names to the god they replaced, for example, the goddess Victoria of the Basses-Alpes was renamed as St. Victoria! I have saved this entire chapter on Saints into a pdf file. Anyone who would like to read it, just send me via private message an email address (hopefully everyone has a throwaway email address!) and I will email you one. I hope this is fair use and if you like it you can get the book of Amazon (It is getting expensive). The file is an image file and as such, you cannot copy/paste text from it. I did have a discussion many years ago with Ralph Woodrow and one thing missing from this book is a discussion of the change of the Sabbath day by the Roman church. One thing I do respect is the Roman church and it's priests in that they are very transparent regarding what they have done to Scripture and why. Unlike most Protestant churches today who twist themselves into all kinds of pretzel shapes to justify what they believe in contrast to what the Scriptures say.

Promise I will answer him Psalm 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

5 Things You Didn't Know About The Hollywood Sign_2 On July 13, 1923, a 50-foot sign that spelled out the word "Hollywoodland" was dedicated in the Hollywood Hills. Here are 5 things you didn’t know about this sign that ended up as a welcome to the movie capital of the world... The Sign Was Created As A Real-Estate Advertisement The Hollywood sign started out as an advertisement for a new real estate development partly financed by the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, Harry Chandler. In order to promote the project, Chandler and his partners put up $21,000 (over $250,000 in today’s money) for 45-foot-high white block letters that were anchored to telephone poles and illuminated by 4,000 light bulbs. At night the billboard flashed in four stages: “Holly,” then “Wood,” then “Land” and then the entire word, “Hollywoodland.” A Suicide Highlighted How Hard It Was to Reach Stardom Peg Entwistle climbed up on the “H” in the fall of 1932 and jumped. She was distraught that her part in the film Thirteen Women had been cut out, and it was her first and only movie. Ironically, a letter had been mailed to her just before her death offering her the lead role in a play about a young woman who commits suicide. Since her suicide, rumors have floated around that the ghost of a woman dressed in clothing from the 1930s can be seen appearing near the Hollywood sign and then vanishing. Four Letters On The Sign Were Eventually Removed Regular maintenance on the sign stopped when the Hollywoodland real-estate development went under due to the Great Depression. The “H” even toppled over, so that it briefly read “Ollywoodland.” After ownership of the sign passed to the city in the mid-1940s, the L.A. Recreation and Parks Commission apparently wanted it razed. But the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce stepped in, and in 1949 it removed the last four letters and restored the rest. The Sign Was Restored With the Help of Donations Despite the 1949 restoration, the Hollywood sign eventually began to deteriorate once again. The third “O,” for example, tumbled down the side of Mount Lee, and arsonists set fire to the bottom of the second “L.” In 1978, Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner held a gala at his mansion, where he and eight other donors, including rock musician Alice Cooper, pledged nearly $28,000 each to fund a replacement. After a three-month period without a sign, construction finished up later that year. The sign looked the same, but structural improvements were added, and it is maintained with fresh paint from time to time. The Sign Was Hit By A Car You might not think that a sign perched on the side of a steep hill would be in danger of being hit by a car. But one night, Albert Kothe had a little too much too drink. He drove his 1928 Ford station wagon right off the cliff just above the sign. The car rolled down the hill, smashing into the “H.” Luckily, Albert was OK, but both the Ford and the “H” were destroyed.

A problem that previous Adventist discussions have not adequately addressed is the relationship of Revelation to the larger genre of apocalyptic prophecy. It is been largely assumed that Revelation is of the same character as that of Daniel (apocalyptic prophecy) and that its visions are, therefore, to be uniformly interpreted as unconditional prophetic portrayals of […] The post Interpreting Biblical Apocalyptic (21): The Adventist Approach to Revelation appeared first on Jon Paulien's Blog. View the full article

The standard for determining the meaning of a Greek Biblical word is the English translation that is commonly cited as Arndt & Gingrich Lexicon(A & G) . As a Lexicon, A&G uses as sources for its definitions the Bible, early Christian literature, the Apostolic Fathers, the LXX, and more. As a Lexicon, it differs from a concordance which only considers Biblical use. The Biblical student will want to remember that in any Biblical translation, words have common meanings associated with the common understandings of the people in that day. A&G provides the following meanings for the Greek word transliterated as "ekklesia" and translated as "church." * Assembly, such as a regularly summoned political body. * Gathering, meeting: * Congregation of Israelites. * Christian church or congregation. * House Churches or congregations. * Universal Church * Local church or congregation. On a personal basis is, my understanding of the central meaning of that word is: "A group of people, called to come out of a larger body to form a smaller group united in a central purpose." .

Promise I will deliver him Psalm 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

Promise the dragon shalt thou trample under feet Psalm 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

The little horn power of Daniel 7, however, is not separate from the fourth beast. It arises directly from among the ten horns that are part of the fourth beast (Dan 7:7: “It had ten horns”). This point is underlined again in Dan 7:19-20, where Daniel says, “Then I wanted to know the true meaning […] The post Interpreting Biblical Apocalyptic (20): The Adventist Approach to Daniel IV appeared first on Jon Paulien's Blog. View the full article

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Been working on getting into the habit of praying when I wake up at night. The more time I spend meditating on Jesus' power and majesty, and being amazed at how much He must love (agape) me in spite of what a @$#%^*&! I am, I can't help but put all my trust in Him to bring me home when the time comes.