Category: Religion

Real Bible Studies, Matthew 13, Parables and Prophecies

Parables Matthew relates more lessons from Yeshua, and these are delivered in the form of parables. They all relate to the central conflict of the Gospel, separating true believers from the hangers-on and wannabes. They also highlight Yeshua’s tendency to obscure his message to the crowds who follow him, relaying his true meaning only to … Continue reading Real Bible Studies, Matthew 13, Parables and Prophecies →

Real Bible Studies: Matthew 11

Messengers from John After giving his disciples their marching orders, Yeshua is approached by messengers from John, inquiring if he’s the leader John has been predicting. Rather that state it outright, Yeshua instructs the messengers to report what they’ve seen to John and let him decide. In much of Christian orthodoxy, John is heralded as … Continue reading Real Bible Studies: Matthew 11 →

Real Bible Studies: Matthew, Healings & Miracles

Matthew 8 Following the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew provides a chapter detailing several healing miracles performed by Yeshua. These mostly take place around Capernaum, which is Yeshua’s main base of operations for this part of the Gospel. Matthew’s concentration on the teachings and healings of Yeshua lend weight to the notion that Yeshua is … Continue reading Real Bible Studies: Matthew, Healings & Miracles →

Real Bible Studies: Matthew, Baptism and Temptation

After the drama of Yeshua’s birth and his family’s escape to Egypt, Matthew skips ahead to the baptism by John, when Yeshua was an adult. Here, we get another prophecy, foretelling John’s ministry. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the … Continue reading Real Bible Studies: Matthew, Baptism and Temptation →

Real Bible Studies: Matthew, Part 1

The Infancy Narrative Though scholars largely agree that the first written Gospel was Mark, the Christian New Testament starts with Matthew. This is most likely due to Matthew’s inclusion of an infancy narrative and a genealogy. Otherwise, Matthew’s Gospel starts with Jesus beginning his ministry as an adult just as Mark’s does. This leaves a … Continue reading Real Bible Studies: Matthew, Part 1 →

Real Bible Studies: The Gospels

While most are familiar with the four canonical gospels found in the Bible, early Christianity produced many gospels, one for just about every notable follower of Jesus. The Gnostics were some of the most prolific in this endeavor, issuing gospels for Peter, Thomas, Mary Magdalene, and even Judas Iscariot. There are surviving relicts of the … Continue reading Real Bible Studies: The Gospels →

Woman of God

Avis Collins is the minister at the Apostolic Awakening Fellowship, a conservative church in Duluth, Georgia. Known as Mother Avis by her church family, she promotes herself as a black conservative who’s opposed to gay marriage, extra-marital sex, race mixing, and government entitlements. She grew up in a mainstream Methodist congregation, but became a fundamentalist … Continue reading Woman of God →

Inferno 

Zachariah Messner was a stern and pious man, a deacon at the Messianic Holiness Congregation, a small church in Houston County, Georgia, near Perry, with no known affiliations to any of the recognized Christian denominations. A man with few pleasures in life, he believed himself to be head of his household and insisted his wife … Continue reading Inferno  →

The End of History 

While many might believe life on Earth would be simpler if we could all be brought together under a single, unifying philosophy, no one can come to any sort of agreement on what that should be. Every social, political, economic, and religious movement since the dawn of civilization has sought to unite people under a common set … Continue reading The End of History  →