The more popular claims of borrowing or influence between Christianity and the mysteries pertain to the birth/death/resurrection of Jesus Christ. What were the mystery religions? The mystery religions (contrary to George James’ book Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy) were really Hellenistic religions, called ‘mystery’ because they involved secret ceremonies that were thought to bring their initiates some special benefits. They were more or less based on the annual vegetation cycle of life (spring) and death (fall). Each religion originated from different areas. From Mesopotamia—Tammuz or Dumuzi (the Sumerian version); from Egypt—the cult of Isis and Osiris (later called Serapis); from Greece—the cults of Demeter and Dionysus which later developed into the Eleusinian and Orphic mystery religions; from Phrygia in Asia Minor—the cult of Cybele and Attis; from Syria/Palestine—the cult of Adonis and from Persia (modern Iran)—the cult of Mithra (twin brother of the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda). Before responding… read more
Christ
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2 See others humbly. Your response to another’s fall reveals your own walk, whether it is spiritual or not. Pride will make it impossible for you to help the fallen, but humility will bring blessing to you and to them. – W. W. Wiersbe
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”………2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV TODAY’S WORD: Everyone loves to receive something new. When you become a believer in Jesus, you not only receive something new, you become something new. You are a brand new creation! Your eternal being, the spirit on the inside of you, is recreated in Christ. The old is gone, the new is here! The Bible also talks about working out our salvation. That means you have to retrain your body and mind to act, think, speak and live according to the new spirit within you instead of turning to the old habits you used to have. Don’t ever get stuck in a rut thinking, “I’ll never change…that’s just the way I am.†No, the Bible says that the Spirit of God helps us in our weakness. He… read more
Will you please join me in supporting a ministry outreach to public schools that I believe is making a huge difference in our community? The mission of First Priority is connecting the CHURCH to reach the CAMPUS for CHRIST! Student-led clubs meet every week on public middle & high school campuses where teenagers are encouraged and discipled in their faith, and the Gospel is shared with their invited classmates. New believers are guided to a local church, where they can be discipled and nurtured in a local body of believers. Nearly 4,000 youth put their faith in Jesus last year alone.  There are currently 165 campus clubs in 6 counties from Miami-Dade, FL to Indian River, FL. However, First Priority has a vision to be on over 300 campuses. You can help us reach that goal by making a generous donation to the ministry today. [creativ_button url=”http://firstpriority.dojiggy.com/arthurconnor” icon=”” label=”Donate Now” colour=”red” colour_custom=”” size=”large” edge=”rounded” target=”_self”] Visit www.firstpriority.cc for a… read more
In 1998 the desire to spread the Gospel of Christ with digital artwork started with simple email attachments to friends, and family. The collection of artwork grew so much that we decided to start sharing them on the internet as free downloads, so that people would be inspired by the Word of God through art and design.
Kaleb’s Witness Christian T-Shirts is a South Florida based online Christian T-Shirts store proclaiming the Christian faith through a creative line of high quality, durable merchandise that includes clothing, jewelry, art, accessories and other items. Romans 13:14 tells us to “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.†As Christians, we’re walking billboards for Christ; we should be bold witnesses (2 Cor. 3:12), living our faith, inside and out, Check out some of their T-shirts below. Without the light of Jesus Christ, we are all spiritually blind. Only through Jesus can our minds and hearts become illuminated to clearly and correctly see things for what they really are. Price: $24.99 God’s love for us never wavers; it never changes. This is why we can never ‘out sin’ God’s forgiveness. In spite of our flaws, He loves us and is faithful to forgive us over and over again, “not… read more
This evening I was driving home from work and listening to the Joy 1250 radio station. There was a Christian program hosting Joni Eareckson Tada, a Christian lady who in 1967–at the age of 17 years old–became quadriplegic due to a diving accident. She said something that encouraged me to share with you my experience of God’s faithfulness in answering prayers. She said that prior to the accident she prayed that God would deepen her relationship with Him, but that she did not expect it to happen this way—she wasn’t thinking ‘paralysis’! But God used her paralysis to answer her prayer and she is so much closer to Him today than she ever could. Ten years ago I prayed a simple sincere prayer. I asked God, “Lord, I want to experience the love You have for mankind. I don’t want to only experience Your love for me but I also… read more
Cross Photos are numerous and reminds us of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. The cross is a a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix (a cross that includes a usually three-dimensional representation of Jesus’ body) and to the more general family of cross symbols. Here are 20 Beautiful Free Photos of the Cross that you can use in your graphic design work. More Cross Photos are all available on morguefile.com. Click the image you like to visit and download. Read the morgue license to stay within the copyright rules of the site. Enjoy. Share your work with us if possible by posting them to our Flickr Group or leaving a link below in the comments area.  [sociallocker] [/sociallocker]
There are reasons why I chose to analyse her experience with the man she loved, rather than analyse my own experience with her: 1) I was very familiar with her. When she did something I already knew what motivated her. When she said something, I knew what she really meant and wanted to communicate. I knew her better than she knew herself. I knew how she was before her rejection experience with that man, and how she became afterwards. 2) I am not better than her. Whatever she went through I knew that I was going to go through the same thing. I am just a human as she is, so I knew “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.†(1 Corinthians 10:13) 3) Often times our own experience are too painful at the time for us to analyse them logically, and often times the strong emotions… read more
Why do we watch YouTube videos? Why do we spend so much time on Facebook and Flickr? Why do we read so many Wikipedia articles? Why do we play our favorite sports and watch our favorite TV shows? Why do we talk to our friends on the phone? Why do we chat? Why do we work? Why do we go shopping? The answer to these questions is either because ‘we want to’ and/or ‘we love to.’ Why do we work? Maybe it’s not because we enjoy our work but because we want to work: we want to make money, and we want to have a career, and we want to have a promotion, and we don’t want to sit home all day long. Why do we play sports? Because we enjoy playing them, we enjoy competing, and we enjoy to spending time with our friends. And we want to be in shape! If… read more
Welcome to the July 18, 2012 edition of Christian Carnival. Each week, we bring together a selection of the best articles from across the web. Whether you’d like to read the top posts from your favorite site, or would like to discover something completely new, this is the best place to start! The carnival deals with a variety of topics, so look through the articles and you should find something of interest. A big thanks to all who sent in their entries. Join our Facebook page, Enjoy! Family Centric – Modern Marriages Posted by Gbenga Owotoki From recent study done in the US, about 49% of all marriages end in divorce and you might think the odds of failure of marriages will be much less for couples heavily involved in the church but I am sorry to shock you, it is not so…. Read More Marriage… read more
Recently I went to a wedding and after the wedding my aunt asked me what I was looking for in a wife and I told her, “About four thingsâ€, without being specific. She laughed and said, “Only 4 things! I was looking for 40 things!†I am not concerned with my future wife’s education, body type, hair or eye colour, skin colour, ethnic background, or family history. I am not saying physical attraction is not important, it is important because God created us all with different looks and different preferences. And those different preferences help us make decisions; imagine how difficult life would be if you liked all things the same way! But what I am really interested in are: -Her mind: how she thinks; her wisdom; submitting her thoughts to the Lord by making His thoughts her thoughts; rejecting evil thoughts. -Her heart (and I don’t mean that blood… read more
Education is just knowledge you acquire to be able to practice a certain profession–it is nothing more and nothing less. It does not make you godlier, it does not make you love the Lord or others more, it does not make you more understanding or forgiving—it simply does not change your character to be more like Christ. The Holy Spirit is the only person who can change your character to the likeness of Christ’s character. He may use your education experience as a tool to change you, but education itself had not changed you—the Holy Spirit did. Education does not even have an eternal value unless you use it to glorify God. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.†Of course, you cannot choose a career that is by definition dishonouring the… read more
Growing in a Middle Eastern culture I was often compared with other men based on height (and I am relatively short), looks (and I am an average looking Middle Eastern man), education (and I was a general labourer/forklift driver for 4 years), wealth (and I come from a middle class family and I earned minimum wages). Because of this throughout all my life I have always wanted my wife to love me for who I am: my God-given personality and talents, my continuously conforming character to being Christ-like, faith and relationship with the Lord, and my love and commitment to her. This desire to find a woman who loves me for who I am scared me from getting education early in my life (that is, right after graduating from high school) because I was always told, “Fadi, get a good education so when you want to get married the woman… read more
Welcome to the May 2, 2012 edition of Christian Carnival. Each week, we bring together a selection of the best christian articles from across the web. Whether you’d like to read the top posts from your favorite site, or would like to discover something completely new, this is the best place to start! The carnival deals with a variety of topics, so look through the articles and you should find something of interest. A big thanks to all who sent in their entries. Join our Facebook page, Enjoy! True Stillwater presents Fear, Faith, and the Good Fight posted at Letters, Messages, and Prayers They say let go, let God. But somehow that doesn’t get rid of the squeezing pain in my chest. I believe the loving hand of God is watching and guiding us, but that doesn’t stop the blood from rushing to my head when panic sets… read more
At the Jesus in the City parade I decided to take a shortcut: instead of going with the parade around the many downtown city blocks, I decided to take a shortcut and meet the floats on the way back. As I walked through the shortcut I got a bit tired and thirsty so I bought a cool drink. It was a sunny and hot afternoon so soon I was thirsty again and the sweat on my forehead started to bother me. As I reached the end of this shortcut street and met up with the floats of the parade I saw this man who was playing the role of our Lord, Jesus Christ: he was barefoot and wearing minimum clothes under the hot sun. Being tired and annoyed by the heat I immediately thought, “Is he crazy? I would never do that!†Then almost immediately I thought, “Thank God Jesus… read more
I am not doubting the sincerity of Christian women’s love for Christ, and so I am not saying that those Christian women who dress immodesty are doing it because they hate Christ. But the Bible does not say we are perishing because our lack of love, no, it says we are perishing because of our lack of knowledge: “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. ‘Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.’†(Hosea 4:6) Also, when you love someone you have to love that person the way they want and need. For example, if my wife wants to go to a certain restaurant but I take her to the restaurant I like then I have not expressed love toward her. So it is the same with Christ: we… read more
Now, here is what I think are some of the reasons immodesty is such a big sensual problem in the church today: 1) I believe, the biggest problem with immodesty is that it is a very well disguised idolatry. Anything that we replace God with to make us feel whole, to fulfill us emotionally, to make us feel wanted and desired, to lift our self-image, to make us reach our goals (such as attracting a husband-to-be), or to make our lives feel complete is an idol. For example, a man does not lust for the sake of lusting: a man lusts because momentary this physically attractive woman makes him feel a satisfaction he hasn’t fulfilled with his relationship to Christ. The same applies to other sins such as getting drunk–nobody gets drunk to make a fool of himself—people get drunk to escape a reality they do not like because they… read more
I was so pleased when I saw this group of youth dancing for the Lord on stage at the 2011 Jesus in the City parade in Toronto. I was particularly glad because the dancers were dressed so modestly, and so they looked so beautiful—more beautiful than any lady I have seen in a long while. Sadly, modesty was not the norm at this event: there was a worship group from Ottawa composed of two ladies who were dressed so immodesty that I didn’t photograph them (I didn’t even watch them), because I would’ve been nearly impossible for me as a photographer to edit their photos to make them acceptable with Christianity’s teaching about modesty. There was also another two ladies in the crowd who I avoided standing behind them because they wore such tight pants (both, to avoid temptation and to avoid photographing them), and so you can imagine my… read more
The Jesus in the City Parade was beautiful; it was beautiful to see so many children of God come together in a public square and have the freedom and right to worship and love their God. But there is something I want to talk about that’s not directly related to this event or this photo. It seems whenever I hear a preacher–whether at church, on radio, or at an event—they all seem to complain about how prayers and scripture reading were taken from public school and how that’s the work of Satan. Well, I disagree with that: first, I don’t think it’s a spiritually bad thing; second, I don’t think it’s the work of Satan—I think it’s the work of God. Here is why I don’t see a problem with that. First, it’s wrong to see Christianity as a state religion. Some preachers say that this country or that country… read more
I learn by examples best, so I think the best way to explain what being born-again means is through an example: Let us say you are a cat, and you want to live as a human. So you start your day by trying to wash your face but the sink is too big for you and the faucet was not designed to be turned on by paws. Then you try to make the bed but the bed is so big–because it is a human bed–that there is no way you can do it. Then you try to put on a shirt but shirts were designed for humans so they will not fit you and you cannot button up the shirt with your paws anyway. Even if you succeeded in doing those tasks the fact of the matter is that you are still a cat. You can try to pretend to… read more
Eight years ago I took a sexual purity online course, and it was the best Christian teaching I got. It was a daily online course for two months and I loved every day of it. One thing though I disagree with them is that they said many members who do not follow the precautionary rules (such as: move your computer to an open space in the house, or install Internet filtering software, or acquire an accountability partner, etc) fall back into sin even though they were free from it for a period of time. The problem I have with that statement is that I believe a person is only truly free if he is free on the inside through being set free by the power of the Holy Spirit. I think the best way to explain this topic is by talking about what it means to be born-again and what… read more
I took this photo at the Jesus in the City parade in Toronto. At first I wanted to make everything black and white except for the robe of the actor who is portraying our Lord Jesus Christ, then I realized this will make the robe the center of attention so I changed my mind. Here I just want to talk about the crucifixion. In 2004 a non-Christian co-worker told me that he went to watch The Passion of the Christ movie and said it was very brutal then added, “But it wasn’t the worst [physically] torture that anyone had endured.†Of course, he was right: our Lord did not endure the most physical torture in the history of mankind, because some men were crucified for days before they died, many others died more horrible physical deaths. As far as we know the two thieves who were crucified alongside our Lord… read more
When I took this photo of the white flower I remembered how in Christ we are new creation. But here I would like to just talk about the joy of being new creation in Christ, because it seems that joy is the first gift Christ gives us through the Holy Spirit when we surrender our lives to Him. Here is a little story… In the summer of 2003, I had just graduated from high school and by then I was in Canada for 4 years, I decided to find Christian chat rooms online. I had never been to a chat room before (or since) but I really wanted to join one because I needed spiritual advice on how to overcome lust, and I didn’t have any other source of help. So I went to MSN chat rooms (been closed for a while now) and I looked through few Christian chat… read more