Tag Archives: prayer

Christianity, faith, Uncategorized

Didache repost part 2

This is part two of my Didache series. The Didache is the teachings of the original Apostles of Christ. It is also the second oldest Christian writings, only second behind Holy Scripture. Original printing issues are not replaced. All Scriptural references have been moved to bottom of article.

DIDACHE 8 — II — INSTRUCTION FOR CATECHUMENS

CONCERNING FOOD N ow concerning eating, observe the traditions as best you can. But do not eat meat sacrificed to idols,  for it is the worship of dead gods.

CONCERNING BAPTISM concerning baptism, baptize in this way. Having instructed him in all of these teachings, baptize the  catechumen in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in running water.v  But  if you do not have running water, then baptize in other water. And if you cannot in cold water, use warm.  But if you have neither, then pour water on the head three times, in the name of the Father, and of the Son,  and of the Holy Spirit. And before the baptism, let both the baptizer and the catechumen fast, and also any  others who are able. And be sure that the catechumen fasts a day or two before.

CONCERNING FASTING d o NoT let not your fasts fall on the same days as the hypocrites,w for they fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Keep your fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.

CONCERNING PRAYER d o NoT pray as the hypocrites either,x  but pray as the Lord commanded in His Gospel:  Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on  earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those  who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; for thine is the  power and the glory unto ages of ages.y Pray this way three times each day.

CONCERNING THE EUCHARIST N ow concerning the eucharistic thanksgiving,z  give thanks in this way. First, as concerning the cup: We give you thanks, our Father, for the holy vine of your son David,a  which you made known  to us through your Son Jesus.b  Yours is the glory unto ages of ages. Then as regards the broken bread: We give you thanks, our Father, for the life and knowledge  which you made known to us through your  Son Jesus. Yours is the glory unto ages of ages. As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains and being gathered together became one,  u . so may your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. For yours is the  glory and the power through Jesus Christ unto ages of ages. Do not let anyone eat or drink of this Eucharist who has not been baptized into the name of the Lord,  for concerning this the Lord has said, “Do not give the holy things to the dogs.”d And after you have been flled, give thanks as follows:  We give you thanks, holy Father, for your holy name, which you have made to dwell in our hearts,e and for the knowledge and faith and immortality, which you have made known unto us through your Son  Jesus. Yours is the glory unto ages of ages. You, Almighty Master, created all thingsf  for your name’s sake, and gave food and drink to men for  their enjoyment, that they might give you thanks. And you have given us spiritual food and drink and  eternal life through your Son.g Most of all, we give you thanks that you are powerful. Yours is the glory unto ages of ages. Remember, Lord, your Church,h  and deliver it from all evili  and to perfect it in Thy love. Gather it— the sanctifed one—together from the four windsj  into your kingdom which you have prepared for it. For  yours is the power and the glory unto ages of ages. May grace come and may this world pass away.k  Hosanna to the God of David.l  If any man is holy, let  him come; if any man is not, let him repent. Mar‘anatha. m Amen. But permit the prophets to ofer thanksgiving as much as they desire.

CONCERNING THE OINTMENT aNd concerning the ointment, give thanks as follows: We give you thanks, our Father, for the fragrant ointment which you have made known to us  through your Son Jesus. Yours is the glory unto ages of ages. Amen.

THE APPROVED TEACHER whoever comes and teaches you all these things that have been taught before, receive him. But if  the teacher himself turns aside and teaches a diferent doctrine that subverts what has been taught  before, do not listen to him.n  If his teaching fosters righteousness and the knowledge of the Lord, receive  him as the Lord.o .

Scriptural references:

U Acts 15:29. v Mat. 28:19. w Mat. 6:16. x Mat. 6:5f. y Mat. 6:9f. z 1 Cor. 11:23-25. a John 15:1. b Acts 3:13, 26. c John 3:15, 5:26, 6:68f

d Mat. 7:6. e John 1:14, 6:56-57. f Rev. 4:11. g John 6:27. h Mat. 16:18. i John 17:15. j Mat. 24:31. k Rev. 22:20. l Mat. 21:9, 15. m Hebrew: “Our Lord has come.” 1 Cor. 16:22. n Gal. 1:6-9. o Mat. 10:40; John 13:20

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Christianity, faith, Uncategorized

A Personal Reflection

Having taken a sabbatical prior to Lent, I realized that the call of God was stronger. So I threw myself into Lent, giving up social media and television to focus on reading and studying. It led me to start a diploma course in Divinity studies and strengthened my desire to be in God’s Holy Scriptures.

While I attend Catholic mass and am a confirmed Roman Catholic, the readings and studies have drawn me closer to my Evangelical roots. I was washed by the blood of Christ in 1996 as a Seventh Day Adventist. I was confirmed Catholic in 1999. But for almost 20 years did not attend mass on a regular basis. Because of rules of the church, I was not allowed to take Eucharist. So for that 20 years, I went to various churches.

Since 2019, I was allowed to receive Eucharist again, but from time to time felt the need to step away from the building of the church but not my faith. So I since that time, I have taken a few personal sabbaticals to immerse myself into scripture and prayer.

That leads me to today. At Easter, me and some of my children went to the local Methodist church that my daughter attends. My 22 year old son was to go but had been placed in the hospital with a life threatening issue. At that point, I did what I could do. I opened up payer warriors from everywhere and everyone I could. Having seen the power of miraculous healing before (during my Evangelical years) I knew it was the only way to fix the situation.

My son was born with a congenital heart defect where he was born without the main pump chamber of the heart. He had various surgeries that remedied it but still lives with complications at times. This night, he was admitted for a saddle embolism and clots in the lungs, A saddle embolism is a massive clot that blocks the aortic entry into both lungs.

I knew that only God Himself could deal with the problem. He was transferred to another hospital where he had his surgeries and was the place his cardiologist was. When they took more x-rays and another CT scan the next day, the prayer had worked. There was no sign that he had ever had the clots or embolism. The doctors could not explain it. There was nothing there. He went from an 80% chance of death to a full removal of all clots and the embolism. There will be nobody that will ever tell me it was not a healing of Divine intervention.

That week, he asked something he had never asked. He wanted to go to church that next Sunday. So, we found a church but something led me to take him to one that I had been to a couple times a few years ago. It is a Pentecostal church. We went.

Another prayer was answered this last Sunday. My son, an avowed Odinist was touched and made the altar call. We were both crying. Me from happiness and him from finally understanding God’s love and forgiveness. Why we went there and not my normal Catholic church or the church we had decided on was because at that time on that day, God was going to deliver my son’s soul only a week after delivering his physical need.

Those two acts by Christ Jesus and the pull on me to go back to the well, so to speak, have led me to a point of not only reaffirming my faith in God through the power of Christ’s cleansing blood, but has started to rekindle that fire I once had inside me.

Praise be to God, in Christ, through the Holy Ghost.

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Christianity, faith, Uncategorized

Commandment 2: No Graven Images

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:4-6 (NIV)

While most know the first part of this commandment but don’t go on to read the second part. This has led to various concepts of the verses and the commandment. The Amish have no images (pictures, faced dolls, statuary, etc) because they believe that these can lead to false worship and ego. But then you have the Catholic Church which allow it in certain ways.

The Catholic Church has combined the 1st and 2nd commandments and split the 10th commandment into two commandments. This allows them the use of statuary in private and parish worship. So in this concept, we will look at how not every man made image is an idol or god and how some are within Christendom.

The first part of the commandment leads directly into the second part. What makes a man made image a sin is the person’s giving it adoration given only to God. So the pictures of your kids, a concert poster, an star’s autographed picture, the garden gnome are NOT what the commandment is referring to. These are just images UNLESS you bow down to them and give them the adoration and praise allowed only to God.

The Catholic Church has statuary, prints, reliefs, etc that correspond to those they deem saints, the blessed mother of Christ, the walk to the cross, etc. What makes them sin is the prayers and adoration given them. The catechism states that worship is given only to God (which is true). The part that is in defiance of the 2nd commandment is giving prayers to the saints that these statues and prints that represent them. No where in the Holy Scriptures does it say to pray to the dead (which the saints and mother of Christ are).

It actually says not to pray to them because they can’t hear prayer. For the living know that they will die,but the dead know nothing;they have no further reward,and even their name is forgotten.Their love, their hateand their jealousy have long since vanished;never again will they have a partin anything that happens under the sun. Eccl 9:5-6 (NIV)

Now, they will bring up Moses and the making of the image of a serpent. But as you will see, that image was ordered by God and not worshiped, but only looked upon.  They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. Numbers 21:4-9 (NIV). Jesus later told what this action actually was.Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. John 3:14 (NIV).Prayer is a form of worship (https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/blog/prayer-is-an-act-of-worship/). Worship is to God alone. So not matter what you pray to or worship, if it is NOT God alone it is a violation of the commandment of God. This would include pagan gods and deities. As well as the saints, the mother of Jesus, and any image of them.

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