The fastest growing religious cult in the 1st century surrounded the worship of a god called Mithras. Many link the birthday of this god - December 25 - to the dating of the Christmas celebration as we know it today.

Mithras was envisioned as a powerful god who had the ability to control the cosmos. There are no sacred writings from this cult, only the sculptures found within the Mithras worship sites - called Tauroctony.  The Tauroctony tells the story of Mithras through the symbols of the zodiac.

Due to the discovery of the Procession of the Equinoxes by Hipparchus many in the ancient world were looking for a god that was bigger than the cosmos. By the time of the advent of Jesus the world is primed to be looking for a God that has the power to enter the cosmos and bring shalom. 

Join us in this faith lesson as we explore the origins of this mystery cult. 

For further study I recommend the work by David Ulansey. 

You can find an article on the Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras at David Ulansey's website. A link is provided here: http://www.mysterium.com/mithras.html

I also recommend an article that was published in the Journal of Biblical Literature on the cosmic symbolism found within the gospel of Mark. A link provided here: http://www.mysterium.com/veil.html

Gethsemane - COVOID-19 Zoom edition!

This latest video is a recording of a class conducted on Easter Sunday during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recording is of a Zoom class which explains the audio.  As skill with Zoom increases, so will the overall quality of video production. 

Jesus and his disciples ate their final meal together. From the upper room, they walked past the Temple, through the Kidron Valley, to a place called Gethsemane. 

The Gethsemane itself provides insight into the events of that night. 

Join us as we explore what the Gethsemane is and how we can better understand the events of that fateful night. 

In today's teaching we look at two separate but related items: the Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus' birthday. 

The Feast of Tabernacles is the final of the seven festivals. It occurs in the fall - generally the end of September to beginning of October on our western calendar.  It is an eight day long festival with the final day being the "greatest" day of the feast - called the Hoshana Rabbah - which translates "the Great Hosanna." 

Hosanna is the transliteration of two Hebrew words, Hosha and Na. Hosha = Save. Na = Now 

In today's teaching we look at how Jesus fulfills the holiday Day of Atonement as the scapegoat who takes away the sins of the world. 

Additionally, there is an interesting comment in the Jewish writings - the Talmud - about something which took place "forty years before the destruction of the Temple" in Jerusalem - around 30 AD.  

Free: Our Daily Bread, Discovery Series (download PDF): "The Holiday's of God: Spring Feasts"

​Free: Our Daily Bread Discovery Series (download PDF): "The Holiday's of God: Fall Feasts"

Books: 

"The Feasts of the Lord" - Howard & Rosenthal

In this teaching we are reviewing the Biblical holiday system that God established in Leviticus 23. Often referred to as God's Appointed Feasts.

We are going to take a closer look at an aspect of the 4th holiday - Feast of Weeks.  In Hebrew the holiday is called Shavuot which is the Hebrew word for 'weeks.' God says in Leviticus 23:

"you are to count off seven full ​weeks" Lev. 23:15

The very next sentence then says:

"You shall count off fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath" Lev. 23:26

"Fifty days" in Greek is Pentecost. 

Many Christians believe that Pentecost is only a Christian holiday because we find the Greek translation in Acts 2. Not true. The holiday was started with Moses and continues on till today in Jewish synagogues around the world under the Hebrew name Shavuot.

The Jewish custom is to celebrate God delivering his Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai on Shavuot. 

Today's teaching will compare Moses and God's Torah with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. 

Free: Our Daily Bread, Discovery Series (download PDF): "The Holiday's of God: Spring Feasts"

​Free: Our Daily Bread Discovery Series (download PDF): "The Holiday's of God: Fall Feasts"

Books: 

"God's Day Timer" - Mark Blitz

"God's Appointed Times" - Rabbi Barney Kasden

"The Feasts of the Lord" - Howard & Rosenthal

​

God establishes a system of seven holidays - appointed feasts - which are all outlined in Leviticus 23. 

Understanding the depths of these holidays - and how Jesus fulfills them - is a goldmine for Christians. 

With the Passover holiday approaching, we decided to do a review of all of the holidays, and how the writers of the New Testament weave them into the biblical text. 

See the files below help with the information: 

If you are not familiar with God's Holidays - which we review in this video - a great resource is from RBC Ministries: Discovery Series which are linked here:

The Holidays of God: Spring Feasts which cover Passover, Unleavened Bread, and the Festival of Weeks

The Holidays of God: Fall Feasts which covers the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Day of Atonement, and the Festival of Tabernacles. ​

This video is part 2 of a two part series. 

This is a continuation of our first video about the "Renewal of Time" and how human beings long to have time renewed.  (see the post below)

In the creation narrative of Genesis 1 - 3 - we find a series of seven symbols.

These seven symbols are then repeated throughout the biblical text at major points of transition - or renewal. 

We can follow this pattern from the creation, to Noah, to the Exodus, to Joshua, and finally all the way up to Jesus. 

This pattern also seems to play out in our lives as we are continually renewed along our path of spiritual growth.

There is a built in desire in human beings to renew time or to use a biblical term, to redeem time.

This idea is found in the rituals of all of the cultures surrounding Israel in the Ancient Near East as well as in the rituals of Israel (see Man and Temple, Patai below).

We also find this idea woven into the biblical text. 

In this first video we look at the biblical holiday - Festival of Trumpets - as well as the Gospel of John to illustrate this idea. 

In part 2 - we'll look at a series of symbols from the creation narrative in Genesis 1-3 which are then repeated throughout the biblical text at major point of renewal - right up to and including Jesus.

Some resources to dig deeper into this topic:

Man and Temple: In Ancient Jewish Myth and Ritual by Raphael Patai

Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History by Mercea Eliade 

Finally..

Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship by N.T. Wright