Dig uncovers 4th century church site
Aron Heller in Jerusalem
07nov05

ISRAELI archaeologists said yesterday they had discovered what might be the oldest Christian church in the Holy Land on the grounds of a jail near the biblical site of Armageddon.

The Israeli Antiquities Authority said the ruins were believed to date back to the third or fourth centuries, and include references to Jesus and images of fish, an ancient Christian symbol.

"This is a very ancient structure, maybe the oldest in our area," said Yotam Tepper, the head archaeologist on the dig.

The dig has taken place in the past 18 months at the Megiddo jail in Israel's northern Galilee region, with the most significant discoveries taking place in the past two weeks, Dr Tepper said.

Scholars believe Megiddo to be the New Testament's Armageddon, the site of a final war between good and evil.

Dr Tepper said the discovery could shed new light on an important period of Christianity, which was banned by the Romans until the fourth century.

"Normally we have from this period in our region historical evidence from literature, not archaeological evidence," he said. "There is no structure you can compare it to, it is a very unique find."

Channel Two television, which first broke the story, broadcast pictures of a detailed and well-preserved mosaic bearing the name of Jesus Christ in ancient Greek and images of fish.

Pietro Sambi, the Vatican's ambassador to Israel, praised the find as a "great discovery".

"Of course, all the Christians are convinced of the history of Jesus Christ," he said. "But is it extremely important to have archaeological proof of a church dedicated to him? Certainly."

Joe Zias, an anthropologist and a former curator with the Israeli Antiquities Authorities, said the discovery was significant but unlikely to be the world's oldest church. He said Christianity was outlawed until the time of Emperor Constantine in the fourth century and there were no churches before then.

"The earliest it could be is fourth century and we have other fourth century churches. I think what is important here is the size, the inscription and the mosaics," he said. "I think it is an important find as far as early Christianity but I wouldn't say it was the oldest church in the world."

The Antiquities Authority said more than 60 prison inmates took part in the dig in recent months. Channel Two said there is speculation that Israel may move the prison and open a tourist attraction in its place.

"If it's between a prison and a church, I would like a church," Mr Zias said.

"You can put a prison anywhere."

Israeli Tourism Minister Avraham Hirshzon said the discovery could greatly increase tourism to Israel.

"If we nurture this properly, then certainly there will be a large stream of tourists who could come to Israel."

  Every One Unique

By: Jenna Joyner

“Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way.  This all happened on the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31) NLT

I came across an AWESOME epiphany this morning.  

I have always been different from "the norm" mentally and physically. Being 5'11," 165lbs, and obviously a horse of a different color left me feeling a little too creative, a little too funny for a girl, a little too deep thinking, a little too chubby, a little too tall, a little too smart, and a little too artistic. I've always been honored with who God created me as and have always been happy to show my true colors, but I have always longed to be a little more normal.

As I opened my day with a prayer to God, he told me something stupendous and I got so humbled and blessed from it that I can't believe that I have been so ungrateful.  I have heard plenty of times that God created me to be who I am, but He focused my thoughts on that same truth from a different perspective: He CHOSE me to be unique.  He showed me I couldn’t be unique and "normal" at the same time.  He showed me that everyone's meaning of "normal" is different, and what is truly normal is to be who God created you to be.  He wanted to bless me with the opportunity to add some spice to everyone's life.  He honored me as an originalwork of his hands.  I had never fully realized this.

It has changed me a lot in only a matter of minutes.  No longer will I be envious of the "beautiful people" or anyone who has talents different from mine. Now, I am truly able to see others in a loving eye, not a critical one.  I don't have to try to love my neighbor, I see that God chose them to be who they are and I am who I am through the Almighty's plan.  I feel so content with myself and that, at least, is one person who you cannot get away from.  You can't love everyone else properly until you love yourself.  We all serve a different process in God's body.  I am God's Only chosen Jenna.  The King of all wanted me this way and loves me unconditionally for it.  That is a miracle.  God is wonderful!!!  

Maybe He wants to bless you with the same truth.  You were chosen by the One who spun the universe and keeps our galaxy in rotation to be who you are. Listen, you hear that? It's God.

  Wail For The Nations

By: Adam R. Rinehart


"Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty." Isaiah 13:6 (New International Version)

This past week here in Indiana, I had the wonderful opportunity of enjoying some of this Indiana weather.  You see, Indiana weather can change in a heartbeat.  One minute it can be raining and the next minute turn to ice.  That was last week.  I spent most of the week working, cleaning up water that decided its only way out was through my basement. The whole time that I was working on these things, the Holy Spirit reminded me, "This could be worse.  You could be one of those victims over on the other side of the world having to deal with an even bigger flood."

The tsunami, the mudslides, and even here in Indiana with floods occurring all over the place, reminded me more and more that the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is at hand.   Then, the Lord led me to this Scripture,  "Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;"  Isaiah was prophesying this upon Israel, and for sure the wrath of the Lord was near and at hand.  My question is, "Lord, why wail? Why do you want us to protest loudly with bitter lament over your coming return?"  Friends, Isaiah wanted the people to wail because some of them would not be spared from the destruction.  You see, those of us who know Jesus as our personal Savior know that our ticket to heaven is already in hand.  The problem is there are people that do not have a ticket!

Are you willing to tear your ticket in half so that someone else may have the opportunity to go as well?  When was the last time that your heart grieved and wailed because you knew that someone close to you was going to die and go to Hell?  When was the last time that you shared about your ticket to heaven so that someone else could be spared?  The time is now!  If you do not know Christ as your personal Savior, the time is now in order for you to be spared as well.  Please feel free to contact a member of our staff and we would love to share with you the salvation from the wrath of God.  May God's Grace Abound in you!

  He Knows The Feeling

By: Beth Hays


“In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.”
s(Isaiah 63:9) NLT

God and I have been discussing suffering a lot lately. Maybe that’s because my life seems to be full of it. I’ll bet some of you can relate. Every time I pick up my head, there is another reason to drop it again. But, friend, I have some amazing encouragement straight from the heart of God.

He knows the feeling. Wow! Just take a minute and fathom that. Jesus felt what we feel. He knows hurt, abuse, abandonment, rejection, loneliness, and so much more in greater portions than we do. He was here on this earth and went through so much more than we face. (But including everything we face!) His eyes were wet with tears and his throat dry from screaming. But, more than all of that, He feels every hurt your heart has. Your body holds God Himself and everything you feel, He feels. He knows.

But, He didn’t stop there. He knows the hurt, but He also has a way out. He has come in the midst of the mess in your life, and He is holding your hand, and He is offering a way out. He personally is offering to rescue you. He’ll walk you out of the storm, simply because He adores you. It’s love that calls Him to reach into your world and gently pull you up to His.

And that love never goes away! It will last, “through all the years.” That means NOTHING that has happened, is happening, or will happen can affect the fact that Christ has redeemed you and will show you the way out if you let Him. My precious friend let Jesus, “lift you up and carry you,” through the suffering,” in your world. He knows the suffering and He has the strength and power to turn it into something beautiful.

A Clean Heart

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.'   Matthew 15:18  [NIV®]

(In very dramatic fashion, begin by washing and drying your hands.  Then take out the banana, peel it, and take a bite before beginning your sermon.)

Do you ever forget to wash your hands before eating?  Oh, I think that we all forget occasionally.  I am sure that it is a good thing to wash your hands before eating, but, according to Jesus, there are some other things that are far more important.

The religious leaders during the time Jesus lived were very concerned about cleanliness.  They had many religious laws and traditions which they followed to make sure that nothing unclean went into their mouth.  One day some of these religious leaders asked Jesus why his disciples were not keeping their tradition of washing their hands before they ate.  (I guess Jesus' disciples sometimes forgot like you and I do.)  Jesus answered these religious leaders by telling them that what comes out of your mouth is more important than what you put into it. He said that the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart and those words show whether you are clean or unclean.

I am sure that you have heard the children's rhyme that says, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me."  That sounds nice, but it just isn't true.  Words can hurt.  We can all remember a time when we have been hurt by someone's mean and hateful words.  God hears every word we say and he knows every thought we have in our heart.  It is very important for us to be careful about the things we think and say, because hateful words come from an unclean heart.

Dear Jesus, let the words that come from my mouth and the thoughts that I have in my heart be clean and pure -- and pleasing to you.  Amen.

True Worship

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." Mark 7:6b-7 (NIV)

Do you know what this is? (hold up the "Worship Plan") It is our "worship guide." We print one of these every Sunday. We do that so that everyone will know what we are going to do next in our worship service. Sometimes I wonder if we really need to print one of these every Sunday. After all, we do the same thing every Sunday. I think I could do in my sleep. In fact, I see some people every Sunday who do it in their sleep! Not really...I was only kidding. Or was I?

Now, don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with having a worship plan unless the plan becomes more important to us than worship. I heard about a church that got into a huge argument because the pastor changed the time when they took the offering during the worship service. "We've never done it that way before," the people cried. You see, some people are more concerned with WHEN and HOW we take the offering than they are with WHY we take the offering. Their traditions are more important to them than worshipping God.

This isn't a new problem. Even Jesus faced this problem. One day a group of people gathered around Jesus to listen to him as he taught. Some of the religious leaders noticed that Jesus' disciples had forgotten to wash their hands before they ate. They were really upset and asked Jesus why his disciples were not keeping the tradition of washing their hands before eating.

Jesus answered those religious leaders by telling them that a clean heart was more important than clean hands. I don't think that Jesus was saying it isn't important to wash your hands before you eat. He was saying that keeping the commandments of God is more important than keeping our own traditions.

I hope that we never become more concerned about WHEN and HOW we do things in our worship services than we are about WHY we do them. I hope we will always remember that true worship comes from our heart, not from our "worship plan".

Dear Father, help us to remember that we are in this place to worship you and that true worship comes from the heart. Amen.

Grab a Corner of the Blanket

Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Mark 2:3-5

This morning I have a blanket. I am going to spread the blanket out on the floor and ask "Johnny" to lie down on the blanket. Next I will ask a child to stand at each of the four corners of the blanket. (Choose children to take their positions as described.)

Our friend "Johnny" has broken his leg and we need to get him to the doctor. If I were to ask the children who are standing at the corners of the blanket to grab a corner of the blanket and carry "Johnny" out the door, down the street and into the doctor's office, that would be pretty difficult, wouldn't it? Do you think you could do it? Would you be willing to try?

Well, let us suppose that you can do it, but when you get to the doctor's office, there are so many people waiting to get in to see the doctor, that you can't even get up to the door, much less get into the office. Then you notice that the doctor's office has some stairs that lead up to the roof. If you could carry "Johnny" up to the roof, perhaps you could make a hole in the roof and lower him down into the doctor's office. Do you think you could do it? Would you be willing to try?

Did you know that this is almost exactly what happened when a group of men wanted to take a friend to Jesus? The Bible tells us that four men were carrying a paralyzed man to Jesus. They knew that if they could just get him to Jesus that Jesus could heal him, but they couldn't get to where Jesus was because of the large crowd. The four men carried their friend up to the roof and made an opening in the roof. Then they lowered the man down through the roof to where Jesus was. When Jesus saw how much faith these four men had, he not only healed the paralyzed man, he even forgave him of all his sins.

You and I have friends who need to come to Jesus. It may not be easy, but if each of us will do our part, together we can succeed. We may meet obstacles, but we must never give up. We must hold on to our corner of the blanket and carry on until we bring them to Jesus.

Dear Jesus, we all have friends who need your healing and your forgiveness. May we be faithful to grab a corner of the blanket and bring them to you. Amen.

     

        We are going to blow it though.That's
   what Sin is(breaking God's Law),but we are
   not under the penalty of the Law(Thankfully),
   but I still think we are still supposed to follow
   the Law.Only 1 has followed without fault....
   that is Yeshua.


                   Yours in Yeshua,
                   curious

                     

Amen curious,

There has only been one that is fully capable to follow the law. All others are miserable in their attempts to do so. God understood this and this is the reason that He gave us a way to deal with our weaknesses, His grace.

Radical Islam blamed for French rioting

To some extent it seems like history repeating itself.

It is GOD who uses the WORD, and GOD gets all the Glory!

Amen Brother Tom. When we study the word we find many wonderous and beautiful things occurred on the cross. Many of these things were not revealed to the Apostles until much later. Jesus told them that this is the way that it would be.

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.



There are many verses and chapters in the New Testament that explain to us the changes that took place through the cross. One of these that I would like to explore right now is Acts 15.

Certain teachers came down from Judaea teaching that the Gentiles must be circumcised in the manner of Moses in order to be saved. Paul and Barnabas were there and disputed this teaching. Because of the disputations Paul and Barnabas are then sent to Jerusalem to consult the Apostles and elders on this subject.

When they get to Jerusalem they tell the Apostles of the conversion of the Gentiles and the Pharisees that rose up saying it was necessary to circumcise them and to command the to keep the law of Moses. After a lengthy discussion and disputing amongst the Apostles and elders Peter stood up and told them of the words of God. How God had said that the Gentiles should hear the word and believe and that God would then give them the Holy Ghost according to their hearts, purifying their hearts by faith. Peter then chastised the others asking them why they should tempt God by putting a requirement on the disciples that even their fathers were not capable of handling.

Peter continues then saying that we are to believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we will be saved. Paul, Barnabas, Judas and Silas then when out teaching that there is no such commandment to be circumcised nor to keep the law.

In Galatians chapter 2 we see Paul again talking of this meeting in Jerusalem and reasserting the fact that Jews and Gentiles alike are to be justified by faith not by the works of the law. In the book of Galatians we see Paul writing to a group of people that has fallen back into the bondage of legalism ( teaching of the law over grace). The entire book of Galatians is a key to understanding the Gospel of the grace of God. The study of Galatians will aid anyone who wants to fully understand what changed at the cross.

An Atheist

A young woman teacher with obvious liberal tendencies explains to her class of small children that she is an atheist. She asks her class if they are atheists too. Not really knowing what atheism is but wanting to be like their teacher, their hands explode into the air like fleshy fireworks.

There is, however, one exception. A beautiful girl named Lucy has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different.

"Because I'm not an atheist."

Then, asks the teacher, "What are you?"

"I'm a Christian."

The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Lucy why she is a Christian.

"Well, I was brought up knowing and loving Jesus. My mom is a Christian, and my dad is a Christian, so I am a Christian."

The teacher is now angry. "That's no reason," she says loudly.

"What if your mom was a moron, and your dad was a moron. What would you be then?"

She paused, and smiled. "Then," says Lucy, "I'd be an atheist."

This one, has got to be worth a dozen grins.

At the very least.

Group Asks Bush to Quit Boy Scouts Role
By Joey Lomicky - Trustworthy, helpful, friendly and kind are all traits found in the Boy Scout Code; however, homosexuals and atheists are not.

Washington, D.C. - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - infoZine - That is why Scouting for All, a grassroots advocacy group aiming to make scouting available to everyone, publicly requested for the second time Thursday that President Bush resign as honorary president of Boy Scouts of America.

At a press conference, Bush was given a badge of dishonor for backing BSA.

Volunteers and former Eagle Scouts joined the California-based group, as did representatives from the American Humanist Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Secular Coalition of America and the Liberal Catholic Church, which is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

"How can President Bush support this?" asked Steven Cozza, the group's 20-year-old cofounder and a former Scout.

"The BSA is giving out a message of hate and bigotry," he said. "They're educating youth every day. ... If they taught inclusion instead of hate, things would be different."

In June 2000, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that as a private organization BSA had protection under the First Amendment to control its membership.

Since then, Boy Scouts of America, one of the largest youth organizations in the country, has denied membership to atheists and homosexuals. BSA membership was more than 3 million in 2004, with more than 1 million adult leaders.

"It's an atrocity that's happening in America," said Scott Cozza, Steven's father, a former assistant scout master and Scouting for All's president.

Scouting for All is holding Bush to his 2003 State of the Union address in which he, referring to education, vowed that no child should be left behind.

Scouting for All advocates said leaving children behind is exactly what Bush is doing by supporting BSA.

"There is no reason that No Child Left Behind should not expand itself beyond the realms of education," said the Rev. Edward Correll Jr. "Bush is associating himself with an organization that habitually leaves children behind."

Bush is not the first president to serve as honorary president of the Boy Scouts, but he would be the first to resign.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., who in July 2000 led several congressional colleagues to request then-President Clinton to resign as honorary head of the Boy Scouts, is troubled by the organization's intolerance. Clinton did not resign.

"Private groups have the right to choose their membership and leaders, but the federal government should not honor intolerance because it is not a value we want to teach to our children, nor is it a value that the president of the United States should support," she said.

Gregg Shields, BSA national spokesman, said Bush's endorsement of the Boy Scouts is simply his choice.

"It's the president's decision and we respect it," he said. "Our membership standards reflect our values."

Shields said he understands Scouting for All's desire to change BSA's policies, but the organization has decided not to change.

"The value structure is different," he said. "If you were an atheist or homosexual, the Boy Scouts isn't probably the best place for you."

While they don't expect Bush's resignation or changes in BSA's policy any time soon, the group hopes that parents and Scouts across the country will sever their connections with the Boy Scouts until inclusion is granted.

Eric Marx, 46, of Chevy Chase, Md., a former Scout, will not allow his 9-year-old son to join. Marx said he remembered Scouts as having a historical mission of respecting others and teaching fair and just treatment.

"I've not been an activist," he said. "But because of their policies, we never joined."

Roy Speckhardt said he was once asked by a humanist Eagle Scout, "Why doesn't performance alone prove worthiness?"

"A person's religion and sexual orientation have nothing to do with the merit behind scouting ideals," said Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.

Shields disagreed. "Performance alone is not enough," he said. "These are values that we share."

Shields said that boys with differing values have the option to join "other fraternal organizations."