Tradition

(Written by Ron Graham)
“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,” Acts 2:46. The early Christian believers got together every day, and they broke bread together, prayed together, and sold what they had so they could share with other believers who had more of a need than themselves. Their Christian experience was daily, joyful, and simple – good examples for us Christians to follow today.

What we notice right off is that these early Christians were overwhelmed with thoughts of Jesus Christ as they fellowshipped every day. They rendezvoused as Christians in the Temple. Matthew Henry tells us that “Though they met with the Jews in the courts of the temple, yet the Christians kept together by themselves, and were unanimous in their separate devotions.” Even after the temple was destroyed in 70 AD they still continued daily in one accord, but met exclusively in their homes. It wasn’t until almost 400 AD that Christians began to fellowship in buildings other than their homes.

Church tradition has come a long way in the last 2,000 years. Most of what is done these days behind the doors of Christian Churches is not so much biblical as traditional. Simply put, years of man’s doctrines have crept into our Christian Churches. Even though we practice something every week doesn’t mean it is necessarily biblical. And you’ll never really achieve any real understanding of your Bibles by simply sitting through three songs and a thirty minute message by a pastor on Sunday mornings. Never be afraid to simply open your Bible and begin a study. If done diligently and prayerfully, God will direct you and provide you with understanding.

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrew 10:25. This is the verse that so many choose to use whenever they are confronted with Christian believers who worship in their own homes in lieu of assembling in a big white building somewhere. Sometimes it’s actually used to condemn Christians who prefer home worship. Whether folks worship Christ together as a congregation of fifty or an assembly of five it’s still worship.

“Not forsaking” means we aren’t to abandon or desert (leave behind the brethren), and “assembling ourselves together” means we are to gather together in one place. This can be easily accomplished by getting together with our loved ones and worshipping God in our homes, every day.

We have grown accustomed to assembling with a huge throng of believers and non-believers alike. In the case of the early Church, though, they got together with other believers every day and they communed together, they prayed together, and God added souls to the church daily. Wow, even while worshiping in their homes?

Good Morning Lord … Psalm 19

(Written by Jack Kelley)
Psalm 19 is one of the best daily prayers I’ve ever found. Commit it to memory and use it in your prayers each morning. Just like your daily bath or shower makes you physically clean, Psalm 19 makes you spiritually clean. It’s a great way to fulfill 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Let’s go through Psalm 19 and I’ll show you why it’s such a good one to know by heart.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)

These verses refer to the Hebrew Mazzaroth, later corrupted into Babylonian Astrology. Hebrew tradition holds that Adam, Seth, and Enoch picked 12 constellations of stars, each with a major star and 3 minor ones (called decans) and named them in such a way as to tell the gospel story. Being a nomadic people who slept in the open with their flocks, generations of fathers could point out these constellations to their sons at night and use them to teach the redemption story. This was to give hope to the sons, who had heard stories of the fall of Man and his expulsion from the Garden. It taught them that one day God would send His Son to redeem them. Their faith in God’s promise, written in the stars, is what saved them from their sins.

Evidence shows that the Sphinx in Egypt is a monument to the Mazzaroth with the head of a woman (Virgo) and the body of a lion (Leo) combining the 1st and 12th signs and completing the circle of redemption. Some experts contend that the particular kind of erosion the sphinx has experienced could only have occurred if it had spent a period of time under water. If so, it’s a pre-flood memorial to the Gospel in the Stars.

In ancient Babylon, the 12 constellations were given different names, most of which bore no resemblance to the original Hebrew, and the 12 signs of the Zodiac were born taking God completely out of the picture. The Babylonian names survive to this day and are the basis for the false religion we call astrology. This was one of the enemy’s early attempts to deprive mankind of the Gospel story. There is speculation among archeologists and astrologers alike that the Tower of Babel may have been dedicated to the study of astrology. Signs of the Zodiac have been found in the ruins of similar ancient towers. In Israel the study of Astrology was a sin punishable by death (Deut. 18:9-12 KJV).

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.