Wilderness Conversations

Paul Wearne attends the Christadelphian Church or ecclesia that meets at Eastern Suburbs in Perth Australia.

Recently Paul has been doing some investigation into different Bible translations and he seeks to answer some basic questions such as:

Can we trust modern translations? Are translations biased? Is there a particular translation that we should use? Are all modern translations equal?

Paul joins Wildernessconversations.

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Now also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildernessconversations

Mark Allfree attends the Christadelphian Church or ecclesia that meets at Nottingham Forest Road and he lives in Mansfield about 20 kms north of Nottingham.

In 2022 Mark wrote a commentary on the Epistle of Jude and we had a couple of great conversations with Mark.

Conversations 69 and 70 if you want to listen to those.

It was his study of Jude that alerted him to the prevalence of the work of Michael the Archangel more broadly throughout the scripture. Mark argues that much of the work of Yahweh was carried out by his agent who bore His, that is Yahweh’s name. Details can be found in the book “Michael the Archangel”.

“Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him” (Exodus 23:20–21).

Jude wrote his epistle to encourage the faithful to contend earnestly for the faith in the face of developing ecclesial apostasy. He illustrated his exhortation by drawing upon examples of men from Old Testament history who failed to uphold God’s truth in their day. Jude demonstrates that all these examples of failure had one thing in common – a personal interaction with Michael the archangel, who so often has been involved in the execution of God’s judgments in the earth.

The book is available for purchase at: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/BibleStudyPublications

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Now also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildernessconversations

Kel Hammond lives in Sydney and for many years has been a member of the Christadelphian Church or ecclesia at Yagoona.

Kel is an avid writer on interesting issues and publishes his papers on ‘Academia’ as a way to engage in private gospel extension work. His papers can be read at:

https://independent.academia.edu/KDH4

He introduces himself as a “Bible student and believer in the efficacy of the word of God .. to make one ‘wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim.3:15-17), a member of the Christadelphian faith community, from Sydney, Australia.”

Kel joins Wilderness Conversations to discuss one of his papers – The Atonement – 6 Popular Theories.

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Now also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildernessconversations

On Christmas Eve in 1974 a severe tropical cyclone named Tracy devastated the city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, one of the residents was Cynthia Gillis who lost everything on that day. Years later circumstances would have her move to Adelaide where she settled in the Adelaide Hills, just west of the city centre in a township called Lobethal. In what seems like an extraordinary and indeed cruel coincidence, Cynthia once again lost everything in a bush fire in 2019 that took her house along with 86 other homes and one life. The date was Christmas Eve 2019 exactly 45 years later to the day.

In the intervening time, Cynthia was introduced to the gospel message, and she joins Wilderness Conversations to share her story.

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Now also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildernessconversations

Dev Ramcharan lives in Ontario Canada and is a member of the Christadelphian Church or ecclesia at Toronto West Ecclesia.

In the May and June 2024 Christadelphian Magazine Dev wrote an article entitled:

Choosing a Good Death

and he seeks to explore our obligations to die well. Death, particularly our own death isn’t a subject we really want to talk about but for a good deal of us death will not be instant and whether as a result of a particular disease or old age in general and we will have the opportunity to die well.

Dev joins us on Wilderness Conversations.

The Christadelphian Magazine

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Now also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildernessconversations

Damien Schifferli, his wife Keren with their three children Tessa, Clare and Tom attend the Christadelphian Church or ecclesia that meets at Busselton, 200kms south of Perth, Western Australia.

Damien’s parents are Christadelphians who were founding members of the Gosnells ecclesia in Perth. Damien married Keren Edgecombe and together they decided to make a sea-change and moved to Busselton, and there they started the Busselton ecclesia. The ecclesia is small with about ten members, but like many holiday destinations it hosts many visitors during those periods. Damien is passionate about, of all things, the Trinity. He’s done a lot of research on it, spoken to several Unitarians about their beliefs, and has had many conversations with local Busselton pastors. Damien joins WildernessConversations and shares his story.

References:

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Now also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildernessconversations

Jeff Deuble of the Churches of Christ in Sydney, Australia shares his journey to uncover the genuine Jesus from scripture alone. After his brother Greg challenged him to understand Christ from a Jewish perspective, Jeff set out on a quest, reading through all of scripture to see what it really said about the Messiah. What he found upended his life, bringing both delight at his clearer understanding of Christ and heartbreak over losing the church he planted and pastored for 19 years.

He pens the book – Christ Before Creeds.

The book cover says:

Just when you thought you knew who Jesus was, along comes a book like this to profoundly challenge and wonderfully inspire. Most Christians are unaware of how different their Western worldview is from those who wrote the original accounts of Jesus’ life. Pastor Jeff Deuble issues a clarion call to prioritize biblical testimony over the later church creeds that were influenced by Greek philosophical thinking, so as to rediscover simple, uncluttered Christianity.

Meticulously presenting information from biblical, historical, Jewish, and Christian sources about how the early followers of Christ thought about him, this book promises new insight and an enriched understanding of Christ’s identity. More than informative, Christ Before Creeds is an invitation to examine the identity of Jesus the Messiah, engaging with respect and grace.

The full name of the book is “Christ Before Creeds: Rediscovering the Jesus of History”

The book is available from Amazon and other bookshops such as Dymocks.

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Now also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildernessconversations

It (the trinity) was a post Apostolic Development

Here in is some very good detail digging below the surface of the story that of often told – Constantine wanted the troublesome few to go way’ – in fact the events were very different indeed.

1. A few of the writings of the church fathers indicate that they did not believe in anything like the trinity.

2. The process for its acceptance as orthodox was flawed

It was, as we might have surmised – all politics.

3. It contains inherent rational and theological discrepancies.

These are well known and are often dismissed with the “it’s a mystery” claim but to expect an answer is not unreasonable:

Jason Hensley, was born in California and lives in Los Angeles and for many years has been a member of the Christadelphian Church or ecclesia at Semi Hills.

Jason is the principal of a small private school, Heritage College in California and a professor of religion and Holocaust studies at Gratz Academy. He frequently lectures about the Holocaust, as well as the Bible, Christianity, Judaism, and related topics throughout North America.

Jason joins wildernessconversations to discuss his latest book entitled,

One Family Rediscovering Christianity’s Relationship with Judaism

And the book summary reads:

Christianity and Judaism are two separate religions with two separate approaches to life. Nevertheless, these two religions have often operated in similar spheres, and Christians and Jews have interacted over the centuries. Tragically, even in more modern times, this interaction often culminated in Christian assaults on Jewish communities and forced conversions to Christianity.

But this Christian anti-Judaism did not always exist. Originally, Christianity shared its history with Judaism. The first Christians were all Jews. The first Christians used the Jewish Scriptures as their sacred text. The first Christians continued to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. Over the centuries, Christianity regrettably strayed from its mores and forgot its connection to the Jewish community. This book reconsiders Christianity’s Jewish roots. In doing so, it asserts that Christians, despite their doctrinal disagreements with Jews, are to see Jews as part of their own spiritual family. Christianity and Judaism, rather than two religions, are one family.

The book is available on Amazon.

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This morning Tuesday May 21, 2024 we received the sad news that Sister Gwen Rosser passed away, She was born in 1930, just before the 2nd WW started making her 94 years old this year.

She leaves behind her husband, Brother Jim who was born in 1926, between the wars a few years before the Great Depression

A couple of years ago I was able to speak with Jim and Gwen and they reflected on their teenage years, courtship and years of service in Christ.

The sound isn’t great and Priscilla preparing dinner in the background, but its enough to spark our memories of this wonderful couple and their service and they will receive their reward in due course.

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Jonathan Bowen and his wife Charlene attend the Christadelphian Church or ecclesia that meets in the Brantford, Ontario Canada.

With all the turmoil in the world, protests have broken out in many countries over many different issues. Some of the causes may seem valid, the hurt is real, but what should be the response of the disciple of Christ? 

Should we get involved in the causes that seem just? Surely we have a responsibility to speak up for what we understand for be Gods point of view. Should we than participate in nonviolent civil unrest and protest?

Jonathan joins WildernessConversations and shares his view based on the scriptures.

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Now also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildernessconversations