Biblical Facts

Francois Henri “Jack” Lalanne

Posted on by Jonathan Bernardo

“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” – 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Perhaps most of you know Jack Lalanne for his “Power Juicer” – a notable appliance he invented known to extract juice from virtually any fruit or vegetable. He popularized the phrase, “That’s the power of juice!” from the marketing of this device.

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Sparky

Posted on by Jonathan Bernardo

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.” – Ezekiel 3:17-19

At a growth group meeting last night, someone mentioned that as Christians we are like lighthouses to the world.  “Lightouse” – now that’s a term that I haven’t heard in a while.  A dear brother mentioned it because we were engaged in trying to understand a passage in Scripture that says, “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” – Philippians 2:15b.  Almost immediately, my memory took me back to our trip to the beautiful garden Hawaiian island of Kauai back in 2004. Continue reading →

Looking forward to Christmas

Posted on by Jonathan Bernardo

“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw His star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him.” – Matthew 2:2

There is something fascinating about Christmas being placed so close to the coming of the New Year.  Many of you of course know that the timing of Christmas is an artificial one decided by the early church in the fourth century. The more popular explanation is that the early church aligned its celebration of the Nativity with pre-existing pagan festivals, such as the Saturnalia and other solstice traditions, as a way to infiltrate the pagan world. Continue reading →

Unseeen but not Unknown

Posted on by Jonathan Bernardo

Acts 17:22-28

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

 24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ Continue reading →

Metamorphosis

Posted on by Jonathan Bernardo

Acts 26:9-18

9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme.  Continue reading →