A little different look this evening on the porch we normally don’t give it a title. It’s just simply “Back Porch” but tonight we’re going to discuss and ponder on some things related to law and ideology. Kind of up-town stuff for us country boys. To start with both law and ideology have separate trajectories but it can be said with some certainty that there are some interconnected concepts also. Now I would not want you to think that I’m so brilliant that I thought about this myself, no, I read this… law is a system of rules enforced by political system, but ideology is a set of political ideas that guide action and shape beliefs about society. All these rules and regulations are created by this political authority which the people have elected. This political authority has put in place laws which are backed by sanctions and mechanisms for ensuring compliance. Those laws are there to maintain order resolved disputes, protect rights, and establish standards of behavior. Pay attention now because you’ll need this later on as we begin to ponder all of this. Now comes ideology and usually that’s a set of beliefs that encompasses a system of ideas and beliefs that shapes and helps people understand the world we live in and their place in it. Now we’re getting on some familiar ground to a lot of of us. It is here that I say we encounter those social justice warriors. Most all of ideology is action oriented. Ideologies are used often to motivate a collective action and provide a framework for political and social change. In the world we live in today it’s very evident there is definitely influences on our laws and our culture that are shape this and reflect the dominant ideologies of our society. Be aware of this, studies have shown that ideological factors can influence how judges interpret laws and that of course hinges on how dependent they are on legislative history. Well, I believe that law and ideology are distinct, I must admit the facts prove they are not totally independent of one another. Our laws are a product of our government and they the tools we use to govern with, but they are also shaped by and reflective of political ideas and values that prevail in our society.

So Ponder this if you will. Are we here in America going to be a country governed by laws and reasonable thought or well organized ideologies that are pushed by social justice warriors and cultural changes.

Kurt

Last week we used Jeremiah 6: 16 as a starting point for our journey to discover the Good Way. God his always made known to his people the direction that he wants them to follow. So in looking for the good way one of the first places to start would of course be the Bible and of course in the Old Testament. So sit comfortably here in the pew, open your Bibles and I’ll share with you some reading that will help you find the direction we need to be going. After we complete this blog today after a thorough reading it go back to these chapters that I’m about to share with you and read them so you’ll have a good context of what we’re talking about. The first place that we’re going to start would be in the 19th chapter of Exodus, versus one through 20. It leads me to have to say that in today’s world there’s not a whole lotta emphasis within the church on the Old Testament, but I have always believed and will continuously believe that it is an essential part of biblical history, study, and learning on the part of all believers. I am really going out on a limb here a bit I guess but I always like to go back to the 10 Commandments. These are commandments that God himself gave they’re from his mouth. They were given to Moses, of course, and the place to look for that story is in chapter 20 of Exodus. Again, I instruct you to read the entire chapter. Sometimes just one or two scriptures from the chapter are sufficient to give us an idea of the subject matter, but to understand the context in the meaning and really get a feel for what has been written, it’s necessary to read all of those versus there in chapters 19 and 20 in Exodus. We’ll move from that part of our Bible and go to Leviticus in the 26th chapter. We find a listing of the reward for obedience along with the punishment for disobedience so if we read verse one through 46 we have an even better idea of what God would have us do and not do. And then we’ll move to Deuteronomy chapter 30 versus 15 through 20, again I encourage you to read that whole chapter. It is my belief that while the Bible gives us many verses that highlight the key expectations God has for humanity that there is one particular first here. I’m going to one I believe says it about as we’ll as any. Micah 6:8 which I believe answers the question as well as any of what does God expects of us, it reads as such…  

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

    And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

    and to walk humbly[a] with your God.”

We also give attention to these additional verses. One John 4:8 emphasizes that God is love and therefore, loving others is a core expectation. We can add to that Matthew 22:37–40 which emphasizes loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself as the greatest commandments.

Finding a good way is simply trying to find a way we might live our lives in a way that will be pleasing in God’s eyes. I have used many different sources to put things together for this blog, but let’s move to four points that I think pretty well sums up what we need to do.

The very first one being that we need to have a love for God. We must acknowledge God’s sovereignty. We must seek a relationship with Him, and we should strive at all times to live in accordance with his will and I believe that we need to add this to that .We need to extend that love for others to treating everyone with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness, as well as actively seeking to help those in need.

Number two I think we all have been subjected these days to this deluge of social justice warriors who sometimes I believe their agendas really don’t match up with God’s agenda or His plans for us. I look at justice as meaning to treat all people fairly and with respect, standing up against injustice and not depressing or mistreating others.

Number three is just plain good old-fashioned kindness. Showing compassion and mercy, helping the poor and vulnerable, and being generous with our time and resources.

Number four brings all of this together. Humility simply means being modest, recognizing one’s limitations, and not being arrogant. God desires for us to live a life that reflects his own character, a life of love, compassion, and righteousness.

Life is Good

jk

I have a feeling that due to this tremendous amount of heat that were going through here on the plateau that we won’t be on the porch here very long. Well I came across a headline in a newsfeed that really sent me to pondering.  “Old People Smell.” Let me repeat that… “Old People Smell.” OK I pondered on that and I thought well it could be personal hygiene, maybe some health issues, or maybe because we’re such an odd lot It might be the things we like to eat. Now, sometimes we can even smell like the food that we eat if we eat enough of it.  After some research I was educated to the fact that it is not a sign of hygiene, it most likely is because of our age and it’s influenced by factors like that health conditions and medication. This age thing could get to the point where it’s quite a burden for us older folks to carry. Not only can we not see well, but we can’t drive well either or hear and we take too much time to make up our minds in lines at a takeout like McDonald’s or Arby’s any place like that you know people say we’re too slow. I couldn’t just put this aside so I did a little more research and tried gathereing some facts, to defend us in some instances. It is believed by our friends and the scientific and medical community that there is a compound that is a primary culprit and it’s a byproduct of the breakdown of omega seven fatty acids on the skin surface. As we age our skins natural antitoxic defenses declined leading to an increased oxidation of skin lipids. There’s also some changes to take place in our sweat glands. These glands produce a sweat and when we sweat it may become less active with age, so I’m reading all this and it just seems to keep coming other factors like diet, health conditions like diabetes or kidney disease. The medication we take, lifestyle choices can also affect our body smell. But here’s the kicker, research, suggest that while people recognize a different scent of older adults it’s not necessarily perceived as unpleasant, well, thank you for that! And then, as I kept reading, it gets even funnier to me. Some studies have shown that volunteers rated the smell of older, elderly people as less intense and unpleasant than those of younger or middle-age people according to the scientific American. So if you’re out in public and somebody just walks up out of nowhere, it starts sniffing at you don’t be too quick to be offended. They’re probably conducting a very important scientific study. That smell has often been described as musty, grassy or greasy. I seem to remember back in the day and for me that’s way back, we used to have a saying when somebody got upset or irritated simply “easy greasy.” Now, with all that having been said, the article that I was reading gave some tips on how to manage this old people smell, you need to have a diet that treats those causes and various antitoxins, fruits vegetables can help combat with lipid oxidation. They recommend that we stay hydrated. Skin care is very important hygiene regular bathing, and washing of clothes and bedding can help and we need to be aware of underlying health problems we may have that’s causing this. Now I have often heard it said that us older folks can be an aggravation we get in the way and some of the other things I listed. We’re too slow. We don’t hear well we don’t see well and now we stink, which brings me to simply asking you to consider…Pondering This! Us older folks Stink!

Consider This… On amazon.com there is a 6 count of Febreze Air Mist for $23

Kurt

16 This is what the Lord says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls.
    But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’(Jeremiah 6:16)

Jeremiah was a major prophet in the Old Testament, known for his prophetic ministry during the late 7th and early 6th centuries BC, a turbulent period in Judah’s history. He warned the people of Judah about the impending destruction of Jerusalem and exile to Babylon due to their persistent idolatry and disobedience to God. If you would allow me, here is a layman’s interpretation. Their world was overrun with sin. Even before his birth Jeremiah was called to speak for the Lord to all nations, including Judah. He was based in Jerusalem during the peiords of several Judahite Kings, including Josiah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. His message was simple enough. It included warnings of impending judgment from God to the Babylonian exile, but also contained prophecies of restoration and hope for the future, no prophet was ever to have an easy road that’s for sure and Jeremiah was no different, he faced opposition and persecution because of what he was preaching, including threats of prison and public humiliation. His deep sorrow over the scenes and suffering of his people came to cause him to be named the “Weeping Prophet.” As with many of the books of the Bible, the book of Jeremiah, which includes his prophecies and lament is attributed to him, though it is believed to have been compiled with the help of his scribe of Baruch. Baruch also plays a key role in the Book of Baruch, a deuterocanonical book attributed to him. Jeremiah continued to prophecy, even after the fall of Jerusalem and the beginning of the exile, sending messages to the exiles in Babylon.

Some years back a friend of mine and I were looking for material for a Sunday school class. Something that we could do that would be from the word and not kind of out of a can so to speak. In our search, we ran across this particular scripture from Jeremiah 6:16. I thought about that the other day and it occurred to me that perhaps in these days right now the way things are throughout the world and among all peoples that this is a good time too start looking for the “good way” once again. In Jeremiah, the 16th through 20th verse we see an accounting of the many things we have done and are doing that God finds displeasing. First of all the scripture encourages us to stop look around think just a little bit. We’re at a crossroads in our lives and what we should be looking for is  “the good way” and then find a way we can walk in it and we’ll find rest for our souls. The scripture tells us then that the people did not listen and we can look around us today and still people aren’t listening. I think Jeremiah makes it very plain that we’re all going to be witness to what happens to all nations  and all people. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God is making it known that there is a disaster coming. People will have to pay  because they are not listening to what he has asked of them and they rejected “the good way.” In verse 20, through Jeremiah God makes it very plain that their burnt offerings are no longer acceptable and that their sacrifices do not please him. Consider this if you will please. The Lord through the prophet not only spells out what is going to happen and why but also a sign once more to the divine frustration at disturbance of a people who are reminded again and again of their covenantal responsibilities, but refused to pay any attention or do anything about them. We must not overlook that in this context, a covenant is an agreement between God and his people.The Jewish faith is based on biblical covenants God made with Abraham, Moses, and David. There is another point here that we shouldn’t overlook, and that is the fact that Jeremiah’s frustration and anger are often directed to the Lord, so it’s kind of easy to miss the fact that this frustration and anger are also shared by the one who commissioned him, that being God. God loves his people and his creation and again and again we see him sending them signals and signs that are ignored, even suggesting where they can look to find a better life rather than death. Jeremiah’s prophecies are full of announcements of judgment. They’re often dispersed with various calls to repentance. He also gives warning signs and indications of what is needed. One of the interesting things that we find here is that the Lord simply doesn’t just simply point out the sin and announce the judgment, there are times that there’s almost a painful kind of explanation because the bond between the people and their God is strong. It’s so strong that it seems God holds back the inevitable, even in the face of such stubborn refusal  by these people to live by the covenant that they made with God. In the first verse 16, the congregation is encouraged to look at their past history, to check its memory, defined the ways that have been forgotten, to remember the God who has delivered and directed them. They need to find their way back to the “good way.”

Next week we will continue to explore these verses and what is to come. The prophet Jeremiah has brought to the people, God’s word and message and God in his mercy and grace has provided instructions in the past as how to live the good life, the good way. So please join us next week as we look at how we can truly fine and walk in the “good way.”

Life is Good

jk

Well, we have definitely moved into the summertime, cold lemonade, cold sweet tea that seems to be the beverage of choice here on the back porch. I think the last time I looked just before we came out here. Temperature was sitting at pretty much 90°. I’m focused on temperatures only because right now this week and a large part of last week the temperature in DC has been extremely high. I’d be willing to bet around the halls of government there in Washington the sale of anti-acids is probably gonna to go up. The the house got their job done and passed the bill onto the Senate and the Senate they did their thing and now they’ve sent it back of course to the house for for their approval  and then if they vote on it and then if it passes it’ll go to the presidents desk. These elected officials whom if they were just appointed…well anyone of sound mind would not put half of them there. These folks are elected to represent us and make sure the voice of the people is heard. It is my thought after a hard ponder that after their orientation they belong to their party and their caucus. I am not going to spend to many words on this…to hot out here. Welcome to the porch…Lisa Ann Murkowski Who is this lady? She is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Alaska, having held the seat since 2002. She is the first woman to represent Alaska in the Senate and the Senate’s second-most senior Republican woman, after Susan Collins of Maine. Wikipedia  She has been a thorn in the side of conservative Republicans for years. This lady does not like President Trump and has the disposition of a coiled rattlesnake. Me, I like our President, I like Alaska and now I like the Senator from Alaska. Now the thing about the porch is we don’t make decisions or solve problems here…we just Ponder. So I ask you to Ponder This… What did she do? She voted for that “big beautiful bill” She did what the people of Alaska sent her to Washington to do, Lisa Ann Murkowski took care of the folks who sent her there.

“Murkowski opposing the legislation until she secured clean energy tax credits, assurances of oil drilling leases and other priorities for her state.” (Fox News)

It is rare when a politician puts their constituents ahead of their agendas. 

Kurt

When I started to write this I made at least several do-overs because I am having difficultly transitioning from the Bible and scripture to our world today, using such a basis. There was a movie some years back…”God’s Little Acre” and if you remember it you have been around a long time. Read this short summation:

The story remains that of a Georgia farmer who believes he can find gold on his farm. In the book it was a gold mine; in the picture it is buried treasure. Ryan has spent years of his life digging for it, all his energies and those of his two sons go into the search and the dream it represents. The hunt leads everywhere on their farm except on the one acre Ryan has set aside, in the olden way of tithing, for God. 

Fast forward to now and once more men are in a dispute with each other and God over “God’s Little Acre” but it is now much larger than an acre. They are fighting over what belongs to God and His people. Stay with me now…

Genesis 12:6-7 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 

Genesis 17:1-8 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you

now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

The war between Israel and Iran is a complex situation. And it becomes even more complex as we try to understand it in relation to the ancient land of Canaan biblically speaking. Now I will try to be very careful here and please be advised if you find something that doesn’t seem right or it doesn’t sound right please let me know. There are definite, religious claims and historical claims to the land of Canaan the ancient land of Canaan is significant to both Jewish and Palestinian communities because for both of them it is an historical and religious symbol. There are definitely different perspectives for the Jewish people. The territory is a biblical promised land to their ancestors after the exit from Egypt, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, this territory at that time was their promised land. From a Palestinian perspective many Palestinians would trace their origins back to the ancient Canaanites and Philistines, and they use that to assert their connection to the land based on this historical heritage. It may be very hard for us to understand how after all of these years and there are many of them that the connection to this land is rooted in biblical narrative and historical claims, but that’s the way it is and overall the conflict serves as a crucial underlying factor. I guess if I were to put this in what you might say laymen’s language or something that’s a little easier to understand that this is a rivalry with very deep roots. The tensions that we’re witnessing now between Iran and Israel extend far beyond recent conflicts. There is so much here that it is really difficult to break it all down. There isn’t time or space in a blog to do something like that but biblical narratives and biblical text will provide us insight into the nature of this rivalry  which suggests it’s not solely political or territorial. Now here’s a word I ran across while assembling all this research to share some of these points with you… Geopolitical… meaning simply that geopolitical focus on the location which encompass the ancient Canaan present day Israel, and the Palestinian territories hold an immense strategic importance. We know that Iran has vowed to wipe Israel, the nation of Israel off the map. It’s a contested area so to speak, and Iran has conducted proxy wars throughout the whole region, and it’s all directed at their desire to eliminate Israel, these cultural and ideological wars waged by proxies fuse and create the instability, and the regional tensions. We have already written that the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran takes place in a part of what is referred to as the biblical lands. They are historically known as Israel are Canaan, and are significant in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, it is where many biblical events and stories took place. The modern countries that cover these biblical lands include Iraq Syria Turkey Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Palestine.  I may have said that already and apologize if I’m being repetitive, but that the region has a long-standing historical and religious roots with various perspectives on which our  understanding of is significance in relation to the biblical prophecies are interwoven.

Consider this… You can say with confidence that “God’s Little Acre” is really a lot larger than that and we just keep digging it up and tearing it apart…In reality it all belongs to God.

Life is Good

jk

Welcome to the Porch, it is a “porch  sitting evening” for sure. The heat dome that we’ve all been reading about the past week or so has certainly put its mark on our community here on the plateau. We’ve been mid 90s for at least six days now and when you combine that with good old southern humidity, well that’s a good time to sit on the porch and raise a nice cold glass of iced tea, sweet tea. I remember years ago when I would be visiting with my grandmother during the summer those old hot, lazy summer days never kept us from getting out and going to the playground and ball field. Now a days the kids are in the house in the air conditioning and playing their games. But what I seem to remember is that every day about 1 o’clock, we’d have a terrible terrible thunderstorm and when that rain got done it was just like walking around in a steam tunnel somewhere for a little while, but oh that fresh smell, fresh clean smell of rain. It was really refreshing. I don’t think I’m wrong and I can still remember it. You could smell the rain coming, see it and nowadays with all the weather forecasting equipment that we have everything is a big storm or everything is something we need to worry about. I remember in my younger days, my grandmother would sometimes tell us that thunder was the Angels bowling. I didn’t really know what she was talking about then, but it made me feel a little bit better. 

I really have been looking forward to coming out here on the porch this evening I needed that quiet time or at least the time of fellowship to sit around and ponder over a few things. I haven’t really taken a lot of time to ponder before coming out here this evening and I guess when that’s the case your mind kind of wanders back in time and you like to remember things and as you get older, it’s just the way the day goes for most of us we like to remember how it used to be and we always say those were the good old days. I’ll let you be the judge of that. I guess I was about nine years old and the neighborhood that my grandmother lived in had a playground. Can you imagine that, yeah a playground and all kinds of things, swings monkey bars, slides, they even had a really first class softball field with a backstop and everything. Usually on Wednesdays every week a lady would come and teach Bible. As soon as enough guys showed up, we would start forming teams and begin to play softball usually about 10:30 or 11 o’clock in the morning and we would play up until that “every day 1 o’clock rain” came along. Now let me explain to you about that rain. That rain was one of those old-fashioned southern summer rains. When it was done, it was like walking around in a steam chamber I guess for a little bit, but that fresh smell everything was so clean and it cooled things off, but you know what it never did make that softball field unplayable and I thought that was remarkable. Well, I suppose we didn’t get a whole lot of pondering done this time, but it was nice, the fellowship and the opportunity to share our thoughts away from the constant protest, complaining, and whining, and moaning that our society has become. You know what I may have just stumbled upon a ponder to leave you with. I have never seen so many mad people, unhappy, and unsure of what is yet to come. God is good. Life is good so I’ll leave you with this Ponder for today. From an old magazine and cartoon character you may or may not remember… Ponder This. “What, Me Worry?”

Kurt

I removed the first issue because I had shared with you some incorrect information. This is a reprint of the oringal with the correction. After suggesting to you how important it was to know what we believe, why we believe it and what was our source…I did just the opposite. Read the comment I received this evening below:

Just an fyi on your blog tonight: most scholars believe Luke never met Jesus.  He was a doctor and definitely not one of the disciples.  Also, mark at best observed Jesus from a distance as he was a young boy during Jesus’ earthly ministry and likely wrote himself in his account as the young boy following Jesus to crucifixion and when grabbed ran away naked. Matthew was the only disciple and fellow traveler with Jesus of the Synoptics.  Of course John was in Jesus’ inner circle.  

The Synoptic Gospels is where I got it wrong. So what are they? 

The Synoptic Gospels are the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the New Testament. They are called “synoptic” because they share a similar view or perspective, presenting many of the same stories, often in the same sequence and with similar wording, unlike the Gospel of John. The term “synoptic” comes from the Greek word “synoptikos ” meaning “seen together” or “able to be seen together.” This similarity suggests a literary relationship between these three Gospels, possibly through shared sources or direct copying. 

Ok, hope I haven’t confused you. We will now continue with the rest of the blog.

I believe there are times that we look upon the Bible, perhaps rather haphazardly. I’ve heard descriptions of the Bible being everything from stories, history events, just all kinds of examples of what people believe the Bible is. It is in many ways in all fairness, a history of the world, God’s World, but more importantly, it is a record of God’s relationship with us, the establishing of that relationship and the damage done to that relationship in the garden, and then a reconciliation process. It begin with Moses all the way through to the birth crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Christian Bible, God’s word to his people’s has many divisions within itself. Most Christians are familiar with the fact there is an Old Testament and there is a New Testament and it is usually the Old Testament that gets set aside more often than used and yet in our study that we had in a class I’m involved with in Genesis there are 35 quotes from the book of Genesis in the New Testament. There are some misconceptions that I think we have that have carried over through the years simply because that’s the way that the Bible has been structured by the church. For instance what was the very first book of the New Testament? The earliest New Testament book written is generally believed to be the letter to the Thessalonians or first Thessalonians by Paul, the apostle. Possibly it was written around 50 CE while the gospels are often placed first in the New Testament, scholarly consensus suggest they were written much later with Mark likely being the first gospel possibly around 65 or 70 CE. That book was followed by Matthew and Luke. You know while it may seem rather ridiculous the point is it’s very very important for us as Christians to know what we believe why we believe it and where did we get it? What is our source? Matthew and Luke are generally believed be written in the 80s CE with John coming later in the 90s CE there are as many as 50 versions of the English Bible, not counting multiple versions of the Bible in other languages. There is a lot of information we could share with you, but that is the problem. It is really very simple, this bible thing. From that foot trodden dusty small square in the city of Jerusalem they went forth, empowered by the HOLY Spirit on that day of Pentecost. Peter’s speech that day resulted in over 3000 people to join The Way that day. In time they would take the message to the known world of that day.

 Life Is Good

jk

Welcome to the porch. The weather is a bit cloudy every now and then the sun will stick out its head and give us a little break, but the rain has been pretty well constant, but we believe it’s going to let up for just a little while. Most of the time porch sitting in the rain is not a bad experience but if the wind gets up, it tends to blow it right in on us, but that being the case pull up a chair or a box and sit down and Ponder a bit. I’ve got one ponder to throw at you this evening and we’ll see what it brings about. I set out to try and determine the number of holidays that we have here in the United States in all categories and I have not had a whole lot of luck. Determining the total number of holidays of all kinds is difficult because the definition of holiday differs  significantly across cultures, countries and even within the same country. Now in “good old boy language” that would simply mean nobody knows. I was able to determine that holidays vary in our country in states, our government and non-government, religious and each has a category of their own you might say, and we celebrate them in different ways. Now remember here on the porch while we’re pondering, accuracy is not always a strong trait so keep that in mind. To the best of my knowledge there are 11 federal holidays and if you add Inauguration Day every four years, you then have 12 federal holidays. Now we all know that there’s a slew more and everybody’s got a holiday for something or some thing but in my research I found something very interesting and that is only because we’re coming up on June 19 and we now have another holiday that we celebrate. It’s called Juneteenth and it celebrates liberation of the slaves in the state of Texas. I will not bother you with a list of the federal holidays, but I found this particular one Juneteenth to be really very interesting because of the circumstances that surrounded it. Now we all know that it was Lincoln who freed the slaves, but the interesting thing about this new holiday Juneteenth is the circumstances in which it came about pacifically. It marks a day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston Texas finally learned they were free two years after the emancipation proclamation. The active recognition by the federal government signifies a broader acknowledgment of the end of slavery and the long struggle for equality faced by black Americans. 

So here is my ponder. Why don’t we by we? I mean all of us declare a Floating Holiday. We will name it Holiday Blank. You may celebrate on any day you wish but only one time a year now. You may do whatever you want on that day. Ignore whatever you want on that day. Or just pretend that it didn’t come around.  So I wish you a Happy Holiday Blank, or whenever. Now ponder that.

Kurt

As we shared with you in last weeks blog, the early church is referring to the historical period of the Christian religion from the beginning of the New Testament to the first council of Nicaea in 325 CE.  Christianity began its growth here in the eastern part of the Mediterranean with its islands and neighboring countries to include the entire Roman empire and beyond. This growth and the spread was not without cost, it would be characterized by persecution. It would include the development of Christian doctrine, to meet a growing church.

A fact that it sometimes lost in our conversations and study is that the church emerged from a Jewish tradition with Jesus and his disciples being Jewish it was only natural that the initial Christians continue to meet in synagogues, and the spread of Christianity was initially focused on the Jewish community. We won’t go into a great deal of detail here, but Paul wrote 13 of the books of the New Testament during the time of his ministry. He had four missionary journeys, and he would write between the journey, sometimes while he was in the midst of those journeys, and even when he was in prison, and he suffered a great deal in order to take the message to everyone.The early the church was also characterized by a strong focus on mission and evangelism, and it was Paul who begin to take that message to the Gentiles. Christians always were being persecuted by the Roman Empire in many ways that persecution led to them being murdered and the underground development of the church which was necessary in order to continue the work that needed to be done. As the church grew, doctrine was developed the church grappled with theological questions and they developed key doctrines to deal with them such as the Trinity and the nature of Christ through debates and councils. We have mentioned it before, but it’s worth mentioning again. The early church emphasized community among  the members, sharing meals, praying together and engaging in acts of service and charity and oddly enough, the Roman Empire played a significant role in the spread of Christianity, both through its infrastructure and political influence. I doubt that many from the early church would even be able to recognize what we call church today. The early church laid the foundation for the development of Christianity its practices, beliefs, and it still continues to influence Christian dominations today. 

Ever wonder where these people went after Pentecost? This is one of the better responses I came across. This is an AI summary  of those events. I want to be clear that it has been fact checked, it is not my writings and is an accumulation of information from many sources. 

After Pentecost, the twelve apostles dispersed from Jerusalem to spread the Gospel. While the specific locations varied, some notable destinations and individuals include Peter traveling to Palestine, Asia Minor, and eventually Rome; Thomas going to India;Andrew going to Greece and the regions of the Black Sea; and James the Greater potentially going to Spain.  

Here’s a more detailed look at some of the apostles and their potential destinations: 

• Peter: Known for his leadership after Pentecost, Peter traveled extensively, including to Palestine, Asia Minor, and eventually Rome where he became the first bishop and was crucified upside down.  
• Andrew: Tradition holds that Andrew went to Scythia, then to Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and Greece, where he is said to have been crucified.     
• Thomas: Thomas is traditionally believed to have evangelized in Osroene (eastern Turkey) and then went to India, where his tomb is located. 
• James the Greater: While his exact route to Spain is not explicitly mentioned in scripture, the tradition is that he eventually traveled to Spain and was martyred. 
• Philip: Philip is said to have traveled to Scythia (near the Black Sea) and then to Phrygia (in modern-day Turkey). 
• Bartholomew: Bartholomew is linked to Armenia and India, and some accounts say he may have also traveled to Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt.   
• Matthew: Matthew is said to have ministered to Jewish communities in Palestine and later traveled to Syria, Media, Persia, Parthia, and Ethiopia.  

They were followed by a group of converts and redeemed believers. In the weeks ahead we will get to know the people who went forth at great risk to their personal wellbeing…and carried out the Great Commission. 

Matthew 28:19-20, to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

  Life Is Good

jk