JOEL 2 GENERATION PODCAST

It is incredible how we can read Acts and see a verse like Acts 15:41 - "And he [Paul] went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches." And what we don't realize is that there were NO CHURCHES at that time as we would envision or experience churches today. Paul wasn't doing "conferences" at First Baptist Berea or Philippi Pentecostal Assembly. He was visiting churches that met in people's homes. This was the center of 1st-century Christianity.

In a series entitled, Houses of Fire, we continue working through the Book of Acts looking at the phenomenon of the House Church. Paul's 2nd Missionary Journey is the focus of this message - beginning at the end of Acts 15 and ending in Acts 18. 

One of the greatest theological questions that has ever faced the church (or should I say "the church since the 5th century"?) is, "What did the Apostle Paul mean when he penned Romans 7?"

Was Paul talking about his present struggle with sin in the passage or was he referring to either his life before Christ (or the life of someone else outside of Christ)?

For many years of my Christian life, I sided with St. Augustine (who actually changed his position) and the Protestant Reformers that Paul was talking about his current life struggle with sin. 

And due to that "tradition", many Christian leaders today continue to teach that the Apostle Paul was simply being honest in his ongoing battle with sin. It seems so humble of him and teachers will argue provides a great example for us. 

HOWEVER, was that the way Paul intended his chapter to be interpreted? The ENTIRE EARLY CHURCH for over 300 years with a single, uniform voice (whenever they addressed this passage) did NOT BELIEVE PAUL WAS WRITING ABOUT HIS CURRENT STRUGGLE WITH SIN.

In this podcast, we look closely at Romans 7 (and also Romans 6 & 8) to arrive at the Apostolic Understanding (yes, and by 'Apostolic', we mean what the Apostle Paul himself meant when he wrote Romans). Get ready to have your 'tradition' challenged as it may not be Paul's!

In this message, we consider Acts 14 and slay the "myth" that the Christian life is somehow problem-free. Paul's life was anything but problem-free. Somehow through nearly 2000 years of Church History, a "version" of Christianity has been (is being) preached that gives people the impression that following Jesus amounts to life enhancement and the disappearance of problems. It may not be stated as such, but it is often implied. It is a version of the so-called "Prosperity Gospel" which Paul's life completely undermines. It is truly ANOTHER Gospel that is being presented by advocates of the Prosperity Gospel (ironically, they completely misuse/abuse Old Testament promises that not only do not apply to them, but as part of a covenant that required the death penalty for multiple reasons - something they "conveniently" overlook!!!)

Can we eliminate many of the problems that might be a part of life? - Sure, if choose NOT TO LIVE as radical disciples of Jesus preaching the Gospel! But, if we live as faithful followers of Christ who preach the Gospel (that demands repentance), then we will be persecuted - we will face tribulation.

Philippians 2:1-17 (ESV)

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count
others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

Natalie shares a powerful teaching from John 15.

It is time to bear fruit. If the pruning time is over, then it is FRUIT TIME!

We begin by reviewing what a New Testament False Prophet was/is and more importantly IS NOT. Many today are being called "False Prophets" who according to the New Testament are not. 

Next, we turn back to Paul's 1st Missionary and look at HOW Paul shares the Gospel in Acts 13. What was his message? Who was his audience? 

Who we are sharing the Gospel with will determine how we share the Gospel. What is the worldview of our audience? Paul is communicating the Gospel in Acts 13 in Jewish synagogues to a Jewish audience (and/or Gentiles who have been influenced by Judaism). Today if we are sharing the Gospel with New Agers we will need to apply the Gospel quite differently and adjust our message. Or to Muslims. We need to be prepared for the audience we may have. Paul was clearly prepared to communicate the Gospel in a Jewish setting!

Some aspects of the Gospel message need to be communicated to every type of listener - the death & resurrection of Christ, the forgiveness of sin, and the freedom from sin that is available through Christ alone!

The Gospel will also elicit many different responses - we see this in Acts 13. Excitement. People influenced and wanting to hear more. New disciples. But at the same time - anger, jealousy, people provoked. So much so, that sometimes it leads to violent opposition. Popular acceptance AND violent rejection. If today we are communicating the Gospel accurately, we too will find the same types of responses - whether in individuals and/or groups.

We end this message with a challenge to be prepared to share the Gospel which means knowing the beliefs of our hearer(s) and knowing how the Gospel specifically addresses what is lacking in their belief system. We also moved into a time of ministry where we prayed for people who needed forgiveness, who needed freedom (from sin)., and who wanted to be filled afresh with joy and the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:52)

Natalie shares a powerful message about giving God full access to every area of your life. In so doing, He will give us more; He will entrust us with more. This in short is about complete and total surrender. 

This message is anointed. Ask God for ears to ear, and allow Holy Spirit to speak to you. 

For such a time as this..

It was in the fulness of time, the PERFECT TIMING that Christ came. The fulfillment of prophecies from thousands of years earlier, including the 5500-year prophecy that ancient Judaism and the early Christians believed was given to Adam when he and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

The world was ready for the spread of the Gospel - a Roman Empire characterized by peace, roads built and a unifying language (Greek) - and the Jews had a Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, that fit into all of this - the Messianic prophecies contained within and a chronology that pointed to the time of Christ as the fulfillment of the 5500-year prophecy. The later Rabbis removed 1500 years out of their Hebrew Old Testament (that became the Masoretic text) to discredit the Septuagint (LXX). Why? To discredit the belief that Jesus of Nazareth was/is the promised Jewish Messiah!

In Acts 13, we meet a "false prophet" and interestingly, that term is used and abused by many Christians today who have little idea what the New Testament and the earliest Christians believed false prophets to be. Today, misusing OT passages that NO LONGER APPLY because they are a part of the Old Covenant that ended/passed away, Christians often think (I call it "the Myth of the False Prophet") that if a Christian prophetic person/prophet misses a prophetic word or gets it wrong that that makes them a "false prophet". Unfortunately, that is NOT what a false prophet is in the New Testament.

Beyond the New Testament, the earliest Christians had ways that they "tested" for false prophets - IF ONLY WE USED THEIR TESTS TODAY! In short, if $$$ was involved, the so-called 'prophet' was to be rejected! Supernatural ministry was not linked to finances in the early church. OH, THE WISDOM!!! And if any supernatural ministry today is charging money (requiring $$) for their supernatural ministry, then RUN from it!!! Should those in supernatural ministry (prophetic, healing, deliverance) be supported??? ABSOLUTELY. But not "for" their the use of their gifts!!! Charging $$$ for supernatural ministry was considered a serious sin in the early church. 

So we delve into all of these topics - the timing of Christ's 1st coming, false prophets vs. true prophets today and ultimately end by discussing the prophetic times in which we are currently living. What is God saying? 

There is arguably no greater story in Biblical and Church History that the collection, translations, canonization, and preservation (or as you shall see the attempts to corrupt the text) of the Old Testament Scriptures.

Everyone is the product of a "Tradition" and we will look at some of them.

The main question that is looked at is why there are differences between the Masoretic Text (MT) and the Septuagint (LXX) of the Old Testament. The New Testament writers quote the LXX 80-90% of the time and most often their quotations do NOT match what we find in our Old Testaments. Why is that? How did the MT and the LXX become different?

What about the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) - which contained mostly Hebrew and some Aramaic Old Testament scrolls and fragments? They are more than 1000 years OLDER than the extant MT manuscripts we possess (from around 1000AD).

What you will learn is that the rabbis "attempted" to corrupt/change/alter the Hebrew Bible by tampering with Messianic prophecies that clearly pointed to Jesus as their Messiah. The timing of His coming, the nature and scope of His Mission, and even His very identity.

But thank to God's sovereignty and to the work of Textual Criticism, we can know what the Original Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures contained!

God preserved His Word and often did so in an unusual manner. To think a translation into another language (i.e. the Greek Septuagint from nearly 300 years BEFORE Christ) reveals the original Hebrew better than the MT Hebrew text that was only canonized around AD100 (400 years later). To think that God would use the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (from 1947 to 2017) to in many cases confirm that it was the LXX that reflected the Hebrew original Tanakh better than the existing Hebrew Tanakh.

This evidence flies in the face of what many of us were taught in our seminaries and Bible colleges. I for one was told that the Masoretic Text (MT) that my Old Testament was based upon (I was using the NASB) was meticulously preserved and copied. The memo I got was that I could "trust" my Old Testament and that because it was translated from the MT, it was as closer to the original Hebrew than any other textual tradition could provide.

This is simply a MYTH. The Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls end up "correcting" the MT text in many places where the actual text of the Hebrew was modified by Rabbi Akiba and others between AD90-AD110 - close to 100 years AFTER Christ. To think we would trust unbelieving rabbis who rejected Jesus as their Messiah who were doing all they could to stop the growing Christian movement! And in this podcast, I provide a number of actual examples of where they altered and changed their Hebrew Bible from its original.

Thankfully, God has preserved for us the Old Testament. And for the first time in history, a critical text of the Hebrew Old Testament is being worked on. It is called The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition (HBCE) which so far only has the book of Proverbs completed. We have had a critical text of our Greek New Testament now for more than 150 years. By comparing ALL of the extant Greek manuscripts, it has been estimated that we can know we have the text of the original New Testament to an accuracy of 99.5%. A critical text of the Old Testament will accomplish the same thing. Thankfully today, we have many Old Testament translations - like the ESV and NET that incorporate the LXX and the DSS and when they "correct" the MT, they will render the English accordingly. 

A message from Natalie out of the Epistle of 2nd Peter which challenges ideas that many Christians have about "freedom". In the name of "being free", many are actually getting hardened, saying yes to sin, and actually getting deceived.

Here is the key Scriptural passage - 2 Peter 1:1-15

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received and possess [by God’s will] a precious faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be multiplied to you in the [true, intimate] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has bestowed on us His precious and magnificent promises [of inexpressible value], so that by them you may escape from the immoral freedom that is in the world because of disreputable desire, and become sharers of the divine nature. 5 For this very reason, applying your diligence [to the divine promises, make every effort] in [exercising] your faith to, develop moral excellence, and in moral excellence, knowledge (insight, understanding), 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, steadfastness, and in your steadfastness, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly affection, and in your brotherly affection, [develop Christian] love [that is, learn to unselfishly seek the best for others and to do things for their benefit]. 8 For as these qualities are yours and are increasing [in you as you grow toward spiritual maturity], they will keep you from being useless and unproductive in regard to the true knowledge and greater understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is blind—shortsighted [closing his spiritual eyes to the truth], having become oblivious to the fact that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, believers, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you [be sure that your behavior reflects and confirms your relationship with God]; for by doing these things [actively developing these virtues], you will never stumble [in your spiritual growth and will live a life that leads others away from sin]; 11 for in this way entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly provided to you. 12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and are established in the truth which is held firmly in your grasp. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this earthly tent, to inspire you by reminding you, 14 knowing that the laying aside of this earthly tent of mine is imminent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 Moreover, I will diligently endeavor [to see to it] that even after my departure you will be able, at all times, to call these things to mind.