Kernels of Wheat Podcast

Interview with Roy Olsen of Apa Vie Ministries, Romania

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 01:15:21 +0000

Introducing and Reporting:

Roy & Melania Olsen

It’s my great privilege and delight to share with you an interview I did with Rev. Roy Olsen of Apa Vie Ministries in Pestere, Caras-Severin, Romania. I spent over half a month with Roy and his godly and sweet Romanian wife, Melania, last October. Apa Vie (“Living Water” in Romanian) and the work the Olsens are doing deserve to be better known. And this gives me a chance to report back to you who prayed and gave and made that ministry trip possible and so successful. Consider this an audio “thank you!”

Concise Overview of My Ministry Time in Romania:

Roy Olsen and Jim Kerwin with some students at the Baptist Bible Institute in Timisoara (Click on the image for a larger version of the photo.)

Led a day-long pastor’s conference at the Ape Vie retreat center in Pestere on the subject of mentoring.
Taught on two successive Friday mornings at the Baptist Bible Institute in Timisoara.
Preached and taught at churches in Maciova Colonie, Carasebes, Alba Iulia, Resita, and Bocso.
Spent numerous hours with pastors in their homes and apartments, listening to their challenges, asking them questions, answering their questions, and growing rich in our fellowship together.
Such was the blessing of God on the teaching, preaching, and personal interaction that the “welcome mat” is out for my return this year.
Enjoyed numerous hours with Roy and Melania Olsen, catching the vision for their Apa Vie Ministries.
Didn’t take any time to “do the tourist thing.” (Maybe next time?)

Find Out More About Apa Vie Ministries:

Apa Vie has temporarily lost its website in the aftermath of losing its volunteer webmaster. Roy and Melania are looking for another volunteer who can help them re-start and maintain their website. If you can minister in that way, please contact Roy at the address below. Meantime, find out more about Apa Vie by:

Visiting this Apa Vie page on their Stateside sending-church’s website;
Friending Roy on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/revroy41;
Contacting Roy via his Apa Via e-mail account.

Quick Update on Guatemala:

I don’t want to take too much away from this podcast’s focus on Romania, so I’ll just say:

Lord willing and providing, I am returning to Guatemala in six weeks, and Denise will be joining me for ministry there in ten weeks. See this week’s newsletter for more information (and sign up here if you want to receive a copy).
If you haven’t read my blog post Inspired by a Bookcase yet, it will provide an encouraging update on what God is doing among the pastors in Guatemala.

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More Bible teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

Subscribe to the Kernels of Wheat weekly podcast:

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Podcast theme music: “Steam Train” from the John Williams album Dusty Porch, under license from Magnatune.com.

024 Kernels of Wheat – Antichrist: In the Pew Next to You?

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:51:38 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 024 – Antichrist: In the Pew Next to You?

In the pew next to you?

Review of Last Episode

Evolution of teaching about antichrist, from the Apostle John and Polycarp up through modern dispensationalism
A brief overview of some of the more famous people “conclusively proven” to be antichrist
Hints and highlights from passages of 1 John so far
A look at the page from Strong’s Concordance which shows that all five references to antichrist appear only in three verses in 1 John and one verse in 2 John — never in a prophetic passage.
According to Greek scholars, the preposition and prefix anti- never has the meaning of against in New Testament writings; it always means in the place of, instead of.

Going Through the Relevant Details about Antichrist in 1 John & 2 John

Note the passage on “the world” again in 1 John 2:15-17, as this will play into the identities of the antichrists.
1 John 2:18—
1. First mention of antichrist in the Bible
2. John says that they are here now, that is, in 90 A.D.
3. John, in a matter-of-fact manner, says that “many antichrists have appeared”.
4. It isn’t “the last hour” that brings the antichrist; rather it is the existence of many antichrists that proves that we are in the last hour.
5. Antichrist doesn’t appear to be the same thing as false christs (pseudocristoi) in the Gospels:
  - See Matthew 24:23-26 and the parallel passage in Mark 13:19-23.
  - Note the distinctive about false christs: they “show great signs and wonders.” John mentions nothing about this in the verses about his antichrists.
Looking at clues and asking questions in 1 John 2:19—
1. Confirming that there are many antichrists, John refers to them as “they” SIX times in this verse.
2. “They went out from us”—Who is the “us” from which the antichrists went out? Pay attention to the context of the epistle, and John’s stated purpose for writing it:
  - “That you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3)
3. Whether your translation says that “they” should have “remained” or “continued” with us, the verb is meno—to abide or remain. We studied this word in /k20: Do You Have Indoor Plumbing? And what is that in which we’re expected to abide / remain / continue? The chrisma, the anointing inside—Jesus the Anointed living inside. (We studied the anointing in /k19: What We Don’t Know About “The Anointing”.)
In verses 20-27, John sets up a dynamic balance
1. Between “us” and “they”
2. Between “you” and “they”
3. Between antichrist and the anointing within.
Review of the chri- root of Christ, Christian, anointing (that is, chrisma), anoint (that is, chrio), and antichristos:
1. Chrisma – the anointing (and the Anointed One) within; only mentioned in 1 John 2:20 & 2:27; the anointing within teaches you of all things.
2. Christos – the Anionted One
3. A Christian is one who lives by the life and leading of Christ, the Anointed One within (in the person of the Holy Spirit).
4. Anti as used in the Greek New Testament always means in the place of, instead of.
5. Ultimately, then, those who are antichrists are effectively trying to live the Christian life by some means other than the life of the Christ, the Anointed One, within. True Christians are those who abide in the inner anointing, in the inner fellowship which God imparts in the New Birth.
In 1 John 4:1-6 and 2 John 7, we deal with another aspect — Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One, coming “in the flesh,” something which antichrists either blatantly or experientially deny.
1. More than just a doctrinal statement or a defense against Gnosticism or Docetism (see /k18 — An Unhappy Heresy).
2. Has Jesus, the Anointed One, come to dwell in your flesh? Is He making you righteous, holy, Christ-like? Or do you offer to all and sundry your excuses for why you continue in sin and sinning, continue in your love for the world? Is your Christian experience a real one, based on intimate fellowship with Christ within; or do you have something in the place of, instead of God’s communion with God’s chrisma within?

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More Bible teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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Image licensed from Illustration from www.istockphoto.com. Podcast theme music: “Steam Train” from the John Williams album Dusty Porch, under license from Magnatune.com.

023 Kernels of Wheat — Will the Real Antichrist(s) Please Stand Up?

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:32:39 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 023 – Will the Real Antichrist(s) Please Stand Up?

A Short History of Antichrist

The entry for antichrist in Strong’s Concordance. These five entries–four verses–are the only places where the word ever occurs in the entire Bible. Note the plural in 1 John 2:18. Click on the image for a larger view.

Intro: In the old TV game show, To Tell the Truth, several panelists asked questions of three mystery guests. One guest had a unique story or occupation or claim to fame; but the other guests were decoys, whose presence and answers were meant to deceive the panelists. The panelists were allowed to ask questions of all three guests, and in the end had to guess which one had told the truth. After they had guessed, the moderator would say, “Will the real [mystery guest] please stand up?” and the truth would be revealed. Seeing the truth “stand up” in 1 John is our goal, with the help of the Holy Spirit. In this episode, we will be looking for history and the Scriptures “To Tell the Truth” about what has — and should be — taught about the subject of antichrists. “Will the real antichrists please stand up?”

Review of 1 John 2:18-29

Anointing
Abiding
Antichrist (this episode and next)

Speculation Started with the Early Church Fathers (a sampling)

Polycarp (A.D. 69-155); bishop of Smyrna; knew the Apostle John and Irenæus.
1. …being zealous as touching that which is good, abstaining from offenses and from the false brethren and from them that bear the name of the Lord in hypocrisy, who lead foolish men astray. For every one who shall not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is antichrist… (from Polycarp’s Letter to the Ephesians, translated by J. B. [Joseph Barber] Lightfoot)
2. This church father, one who sat under John’s teaching, is the last one to say only what the Apostle said about antichrist.
Tertullian (c. 160-c.220): equated the “wicked one” of 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 with antichrist — over 100 years after John’s death.
Athanasius (c. 293-373) – described the heretic Arius as “Christ’s foe and harbinger of antichrist.” Here is one of the first instances where the antichrist is pinned to an individual.
John Chrysostom (c. 327-407) in his Homily on 2nd Thessalonians:
1. “…delivered from childish fables and from old women’s fooleries. And have you not often heard, when you were children, persons talking much even about the name of Antichrist, and about his bending the knee? For the devil scatters these things in our minds, whilst yet tender, that the doctrine may grow up with us, and that he may be able to deceive us. Paul therefore, in speaking of Antichrist, would not have passed over these things if they had been profitable. Let us not therefore enquire into these things.…”
2. But note that, following Tertullian’s lead, Chrysostom is now associating antichrist with a passage outside of 1 John and 2 John.

The Pope or Papacy as Antichrist (another sampling)

Not a teaching started by Protestants, but by various Roman Catholics
1. Around A.D. 1000 — a French archbishop labeled Pope John XV as antichrist.
2. Toward the end of the 11th century — Cardinal Benno labeled Pope Gregory VII the same.
3. A.D. 1241 — Pope Gregory IX was called antichrist by Eberhard II, the prince-archbishop of Salzburg.
From the 1500s onward, Protestant Reformers held as one of their tenants that the Papacy was the Antichrist. Those who taught this included Martin Luther, Thomas Cranmer, John Calvin, John Knox, and William Tyndale. This view was strongly held in many Protestant quarters through the late 1800s, and even has adherents today.
Catholic Counter-Reformation (about 1550 to 1650): the idea that the Antichrist is in the future, yet to come…
1. Posited by the Jesuit Francisco Ribera (1537-1591)
2. Further developed by another Jesuit, Robert Bellarmine (later, Cardinal; eventually “sainted”):
  1. Temple would be rebuilt in Jerusalem; associated it with the future Antichrist
  2. Basis of modern Dispensationalism
The Antichrist of modern Dispensationalism (the view most evangelical Christians now hold)
1. Plymouth Brethren in England
2. Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843-1921) and the Scofield Bible
3. Dallas Theological Seminary
Another view from Edgar Parkyns — Islam is the Antichrist, on the basis of
1. 1 John 2:22-23: “…He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father…”
2. Since the Koran denies that Jesus is the Son of God, Parkyns claimed that Islam could qualify.

In the Twentieth Century (and in my lifetime), people “conclusively proven” to be “the Antichrist” by prophecy “experts”

Kaiser Wilhelm II (World War I)
Benito Mussolini (Italian dictator during World War II)
Adolf Hitler
Josef Stalin
President John F. Kennedy
1. “deadly wound that was healed” (Revelation 13:3, 12)
2. Why Jackie Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis
3. “Seen” on one of Onassis’s Greek islands
King Juan Carlos I of Spain
U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
Saddam Hussein
Barney the purple dinosaur

“Sometimes it seems that there are more Christians looking for Antichrist than are looking for Christ.” — Rev. P.H.P. “Percy” Gutteridge

Will the Real Antichrists Please Stand Up?

All that we can know and need to know about antichrist is found in 1 John 2:15-29; 4:2-3; 2 John 7. These are the only places the words antichrist or antichrists are used. (See graphic from Strong’s Concordance above.)
1. John is the only one who uses the word, and only in two of his epistles.
2. Although John is the author of the Book of Revelation, he never uses the word in Revelation.
3. It’s reasonable to assume that the epistles provide everything we need to figure it out.
Hints and clues in the epistle passages of John
1. Many antichrists (plural) have already appeared (2:18-19)
2. The antichrists “went out from us” (2:19) — out from where?
3. The key determination — Has “Jesus Christ come in the flesh?” 1 John 4:2; 2 John 7
Other considerations:
1. In 1 John 4:3, the words “spirit” in the phrase “the spiritof the antichrist” do not appear in the Greek text.
  1. Young’s Literal Translation: “…this is that of the antichrist…”
  2. NET Bible marginal note: “ ‘spirit’ is not in the Greek text” [fact] “but is implied” [questionable]
2. The preposition/prefix anti never appears in the New Testament with the meaning of “against”:
  1. “Anti is one of the prepositions whose use goes back to the Hellenistic period. In its basic meaning of ‘over against’ it does not occur in the NT, but is mostly used in the sense of ‘in place of’…it makes little difference whether the word denotes an actual replacement, an intended replacement, or a mere equivalent in estimation…” – Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Kittel) [emphases mine]
  2. Anti – “in order to indicate that one person or thing is, or is to be, replaced by another instead of, in place of…in order to indicate that one thing is equiv. to another for, as, in place of…” – A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, & Danker)
Working from the context of 1 John: What has John already taught us that provides the context for understanding the word antichrist? You can review the various points in previous Kernels of Wheat episodes:
1. What is the purpose for John writing the entire epistle? — Intimate fellowship with the Godhead. See:
  1. #1: Words We Think We Know (1 John 1:1-3)
  2. #2: Asking the Right Question (1 John 1:1-4)
  3. #3: No “God Bag” Needed
  4. #4: God Is Light (1 John 1:5)
2. What keeps us in — or removes us from — that fellowship with God?
  1. #6: When Is Walking More than Walking? (1 John 1:6-7)
  2. #7: Walking in Freedom (1 John 1:6-7)
  3. #8: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! (1 John 1:6—2:6)
  4. #9: That Uncomfortable Word, Part 1
  5. #10: That Uncomfortable Word, Part 2
  6. #13: The Love Meter (1 John 2:1-5)
  7. #14: A New Gift from Jesus (1 John 2:6-11)
3. What constitutes the highest level of maturity?
  1. #15: Walking into Maturity (1 John 2:12-14)
4. What is mutually exclusive to the love of God in us and our ability to love God?
  1. #16: If “God So Loved the World,” Why Am I Not Allowed To? (1 John 2:15-17); and especially…
  2. #17: Why the Impossible Is Impossible (1 John 2:15-17)
5. What did we learn about the heresies that John might have been facing?
  1. #18: An Unhappy Heresy (1 John 2:18-21); but note…
  2. …that the variant of these that will come to light in the next episode about antichrist is more subtle and widespread.
6. What did we learn about “the anointing” and the Anointed One?
  1. #19: What We Don’t Know About the Anointing (1 John 1:18-29)
7. What did we learn about abiding?
  1. #20: Do You Have Indoor Plumbing? (1 John 1:18-29)

This isn’t a “game show.” We want to know what the Bible really says about this subject, stripped of all of its historical baggage. Will the real antichrists please stand up? We will look to the Bible “To Tell the Truth” about antichrist in a whole new light in the next episode.

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More Bible teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

Subscribe to the Kernels of Wheat weekly podcast:

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Podcast theme music: “Steam Train” from the John Williams album Dusty Porch, under license from Magnatune.com. Graphic was created by the author.

022 Kernels of Wheat — We Lend a Hand with LendAHand in Costa Rica

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 01:40:32 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 022 – We Lend a Hand with LendAHand in Costa Rica, Including an Interview with Bobby Hoyle

Pastors and LendAHand team members gathered at the Monte Getsemaní retreat center in Costa Rica. The three people at the extreme right of the group are (left to right) Kathryn Hoyle, Bobby Hoyle, and Pastor Jorge Fernández.

Late on Friday, August 3, I returned from another teaching trip, this time to Costa Rica. In this podcast, I share for about fifteen minutes on my small part in teaching a group of pastors associated with Iglesia Centro Misionero in Los Guido, San José, Costa Rica. I cover some of the highlights of the trip, but I encourage you to read these three related blog posts also:

What you may find even more interesting is this episode’s interview with LendAHand Mission Teams founder and leader, Rev. Bobby Hoyle. Bobby was our team leader and made the arrangements for the trip. The story of how he got involved in missions late in life, how LendAHand was formed, what it does, and how God is using it will be inspiring to many. And let’s just say that Bobby is a man who has a very… well, let’s say unconventional… definition of “retirement”!

In the interview (which starts at approximately 18:30 in the broadcast), Bobby gives a special word of thanks to Kingsway Charities, so be certain to click through and visit their website and learn about their ministry. Their primary focus is international medical missions.
Dr. Raymond Rempt, one of my two fathers in the Lord, is the founder of FigTree.net, and the author of Never Before, Never Again: Getting Your Feet Wet in Missions. The book, which highlights the unique opportunity God is offering for involvement in short-term missions, is available from Amazon.com, or, if you’d rather purchase a copy directly from Ray, drop him a line.

Contact information for LendAHand Mission Teams:

Website: http://www.lendahandmissionteams.org/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lendahandmissionteams
E-mail: Click here for e-mail.
Phone: 757.479.5527
Mailing address: 1585 Coolspring Way, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 23464 USA

Front (L to R): Dr. Jeraldine (“Jeri”) Posey, Glyndon (“Glen”) Logsdon, Sonia Logsdon, Kathryn Hoyle, Jimmy Hernández-Arroyo (our translator), Bobby Hoyle
Rear (L to R): Mark Fisher, Ricardo (retreat-center superintendent), Jim Kerwin, Darrell Roland

Next Episode:

Next episode, Lord willing, we’ll be back on track with our study of 1 John, chapter 2, introducing the topic of antichrist in a way you’ve probably never heard it — in context!

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

Subscribe to the Kernels of Wheat weekly podcast:

Legal stuff:
Podcast theme music: “Steam Train” from the John Williams album Dusty Porch, under license from Magnatune.com. Photos were taken by the author. Cover of Never Before, Never Again, is used by permission of Dr. Raymond D. Rempt.

021 Kernels of Wheat — Does God Hate Socks?

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 19:57:26 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 021 — Does God Hate Socks?

No, God doesn’t hate socks,
but He has been blessing our socks off lately!

Because it’s been so long since our last podcast in our continuing study through 1 John, I thought it would be appropriate to give our listeners a rundown (all-too-brief and incomplete) of my missions trip to Guatemala and my ministry trip to Iowa. I’ve been busy — flying 3,800 miles round trip to Guatemala, driving 4,000 miles (Florida and Iowa) — and this week’s trip to Costa Rica (another 4,300 miles) hasn’t even begun (although all the teaching materials are ready and delivered).

The last few months have become a kaleidoscope of memories:

working hard at improving my limited Spanish
teaching a small group of precious believers in a home lit by two bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling
preaching at a church anniversary, and later the same day sharing the Gospel and seeing a rescued woman take her final step to public declaration of faith in Jesus when the invitation was given
working in harness with my translators, Dr. Gladys de Chávez, Jorge Torres, and Pastor Lilian de Chávez (many thanks to them for their labor of love)
Sharing precious times of fellowship around family meal tables (which also serve as homework centers and the household Internet nexus)
Talking about the things of God with dedicated leaders like Atilio Chávez, Jorge Pérez, Fermin Chávez, and Jorge Cerritos (the latter of Iglesia Ciudad de Refugio [City of Refuge Church])
Teaching forty active, hungry, eager pastors and an equal number of wives and up-and-coming church leaders
Discovering that since my last visit the forty pastors have been committed to reading through the Bible yearly, cover to cover
Seeing the impact of our Woman in the Kingdom of God series (perhaps our next podcast theme after we finish 1 John)
The fun of introducing and modeling the concept of a “children’s sermon” during the normal Sunday-morning worship service
Enjoying the gracious hospitality of two families and three churches
Two long days of driving to Iowa, savoring the time to be quiet with the Lord, unwind, and reflect, and to prepare my heart for the coming week
The ease with which the Lord helped me to focus “Isaiah Reid’s” nightly homilies on the subject of heart purity, and the favor the Lord gave those messages with the audience (the videos of which should be posted over the next few months)
The late nights of fellowship, mostly outdoors in unbelievably perfect Iowa weather, with some of the loveliest saints this side of heaven — Evangelist Hal Daigre, Cyril and Jan McKay and their family, Kevin and Esther Brown, Dr. Philip Speas, Rev. & Mrs. Don Thurman

I could go on at length, but I’m pinched for time. In three days I board a plane for Costa Rica, another missions trip for teaching pastors. After that — more ministry in northern Virginia, a trip to Romania in October (nearly 10,000 more miles, teaching more pastors!), and suddenly there’s the possibility of a December trip to India (another 18,000 miles, many more pastors!) on the horizon. Thanks for praying, caring, giving, and listening!

Related Blogs:

Next Episode:

Depending on events in Costa Rica, I may come back with an interview or two. I’d love for you to hear the hearts of these servants of God!

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

Subscribe to the Kernels of Wheat weekly podcast:

Legal stuff:
Image licensed from 123RF.com.
Podcast theme music: “Steam Train” from the John Williams album Dusty Porch, under license from Magnatune.com

020 Kernels of Wheat – Do You Have Indoor Plumbing?

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 14:27:33 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 020 - Do You Have Indoor Plumbing?

Is this your experience of the Christian life, or do you have indoor plumbing?

Review of last week’s episode, What We Don’t Know About the ‘Anointing,‘ the second installment in our study of 1 John 2:18-29.

Abiding

What is the significance of what we learned about ‘the anointing’ last week?

Do you have indoor plumbing?
Most Christians don’t have indoor plumbing, and find it hard to believe or even conceive that other people do!

Living water (John 4:1-42)

What does “living” mean?
The water becomes a “well springing up to eternal life” (v. 14)
An insignificant fact?

Left her waterpot (v. 28) — why is this small fact important?
(Side note: Another example of an important fact — Isaiah 6:1. See Leper in the Throne Room for an explanation.)

What is our normal thought-orientation about our interaction with God?

From the top down
Filling a bucket – this is the Old Covenant concept – God is up there / out there, and must be invoked, prayed or praised down.
Filling a cistern (e.g., Jeremiah 2:13)
One of our greatest problems - putting a veneer of New Covenant language on and Old Covenant experience.

How does a well fill? – from the bottom up, from the inside out. – This is the New Covenant concept – God is within

John 14:17 – “He [the Holy Spirit] dwells [abides] with you, but shall be in you.”
What gets born again in the New Birth?

The human spirit
Why – it’s where God dwells.
Coming of the Holy Spirit within restores the “indoor plumbing” of constant fellowship with God, “living water” flowing within.

Do you have indoor plumbing? Are you through with your bucket and cistern?

Now do you see why it’s unscriptural to “pray down the anointing”?

The Anointing isn’t an it; He’s a person, the blessed, indwelling, abiding Holy Spirit, not some spiritual goo or blob of blessing to be “prayed down.”
“He will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13)
You abide in Him, and He abides in you.

How the Apostle John Uses the Word Abiding

John’s use of the noun mone (abiding place, dwelling) in John 14:2, 23

Recall our discussion of this from Kernels of Wheat Episode 13 – The Love Meter.

John’s use of of the verb meno (abide, remain, continue, dwell, stay, etc.)

Uses it 50% more than all of the other NT writers combined
Recall John’s central theme – fellowship with the Godhead (1 John 1)

John = the Apostle of the inner and intimate life
John’s initial use of meno – John 1:32-39

The Holy Spirit descending and abiding on Jesus – vv. 32, 33
John’s first question to Jesus — “Where do You abide?” — vv. 38, 39

Meno as the operative verb in John 15 – the Vine passage
Meno in 1 John 2:20, 27, in the flow of what has already appeared in the epistle

v. 6 – a Christian is someone who says that s/he abides in God and God abides in him or her.
v. 9 – abiding in the light
v. 24 – let that therefore abide in you… (3 x)
v. 27 – anointing, the chrisma abides in you; abide in Him

The word Christian: From the same chri– root we discussed in the last study.

v. 28 – command – abide in Him

Consistent with Paul’s Understanding and Teaching

2 Corinthians 1:21—Now He who establishes us with you in the Anointed One and anointed us is God…

How do you get your “anointing”? By being in and abiding in God’s only Anointed One.

Colossians 1:24-29:

v. 27 — The mystery of the Gospel — The Anointed One in you, the hope of Glory!
v. 28 — To present every man complete in the Anointed One.

Next Session: Antichrist

First anointing, then abiding, and next week antichrist. How do they all tie together?

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

Subscribe to the Kernels of Wheat weekly podcast:

Legal stuff:
Image licensed from 123RF.com.
Podcast theme music: “Steam Train” from the John Williams album Dusty Porch, under license from Magnatune.com

019 Kernels of Wheat – What We Don’t Know About ‘The Anointing’

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:17:33 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 019 - What We Don’t Know about “The Anointing”

Part of a 'Strong's Concordance' entry on the word 'anointed'

Review of last week’s episode, An Unhappy Heresy, the first installment in our study of 1 John 2:18-29.

Study on the words anoint and anointing

No one in the New Testament ever prayed for “the anointing,” so why are so many Christians praying this way?

If orthodoxy is right belief, what the early Christians taught and believed, then..
Orthopraxy is right practice, that is, how the early Christians lived out what they believed.
In all the prayers we read in the Book of Acts, in Paul’s epistles, etc.—in other words, in any passage that would give us insight into New Testament orthopraxy—nobody ever “prayed for the anointing.” What was it that New Testament Christians understood that we don’t?

Words as tools (and as anchors)

Words are the tools of thought, and you will often find that you are thinking badly because you are using the wrong tools, trying to bore a hole with a screwdriver, or draw a cork with a coal-hammer.—A. P. Herbert, British politician and writer
If we aren’t clear on the definition of a word, or, worse, if we have an entirely inaccurate idea of what a word means, we can’t understand the speaker/writer who is using the words. When the Writer is God, in His Word, we need to be extra diligent in understanding how He uses a word and what He wants it to mean.
A misunderstood word, rather than being a tool, is more like an anchor, holding us back, keeping us from spiritual understanding. There is great difficulty in overcoming preconceived, reinforced notions.
Terms and concepts from Scripture we think we “know” — but we don’t:

Anointing
Antichrist
(See also Kernels of Wheat episode #1–Words We Think We Know.)

Today’s study: All the New Testament words translated as anoint or anointing

A page from Strong's Concordance (Click on the image to see it at nearly full size. You can see all the words translated like 'anoint*' at full size. Pay attention to the numbers in italics.)

Use of Strong’s Concordance

Background
Every word cataloged
Strong’s numbering system: a tool for looking up Greek and Hebrew words and their basic definitions – for people who don’t know Greek and Hebrew!

Non-italic numbers: refer to entry in Strong’s Hebrew lexicon (at the back of the Concordance)
Italic numbers: refer to Strong’s Greek lexicon. (Since our study is focusing on New Testament usage, we will only be looking at italicized numbers.

Words translated as anoint that don’t have the chri— root.

Strong’s 3462— μυρίζω—moo-REED-zo, murizō; used 1 of 21 times in the NT

Anoint for burial (e.g., Mark 14:8)
Rub with ointment or unguent
Related words include myrrh (e.g., Matthew 2:11) and Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-17).

Strong’s 218—ἀλείφω— ah-LAY-foh— aleiphō—used 9 of 21 times in the NT; from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words:

Used for an anointing of any kind, such as:

Physical refreshment after washing, e.g.,

In the LXX (Old Testament translated into Greek) of Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20; Daniel 10:3; Micah 6:15. (For a review on the LXX/Septuagint, refer to Kernels of Wheat, Episode 5–God’s First Popular Bible Translation.)
In the NT, Matthew 6:17; Luke 7:38, 46; John 11:2; 12:3; or

Anointing of the sick, Mark 6:13; James 5:14 (called extreme unction by the Church in years gone by); or
Anointing of a dead body, Mark 16:1.

The material used was either oil, or ointment, as in Luke 7:38, 46.
In the LXX (not the NT) it is also used of anointing

a pillar, Genesis 31:13, or
captives, 2 Chronicles 28:15, or
of daubing a wall with mortar, Ezekiel 13:10-12, 14-15; and,
in the sacred sense, of anointing priests, in Exodus 40:15 (twice), and Numbers 3:3.

Word from the root chri— (χρι——)

Strong’s #1472—ἐγχρίω — 1 of 21; Vine’s: primarily, to rub in, hence, to besmear, to anoint, is used metaphorically in the command to the church in Laodicea to anoint their eyes with eyesalve, Revelation 3:18. In the LXX, Jeremiah 4:30, it is used of the anointing of the eyes with a view to beautifying them.
Strong’s 2025—ἐπιχρίω, 2 of 21 times; Vine’s: primarily, to rub on (epi, upon), is used of the blind man whose eyes Christ anointed with spit-made mud, and indicates the manner in which the anointing was done, John 9:6, 11
Strong’s 5547—Χριστός—KREE-oh— chriō, 5 times. Uses of the verb:

Luke 4:18—[Jesus reading Isaiah 61:1]:“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed…”
Acts 4:27—[The Apostles and assembled Christians praying to God the Father]: “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel…”
Acts 10:38—[Peter preaching in the house of Cornelius]: “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
2 Corinthians 1:21—Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God…
Hebrews 1:9—[quoting Psalm 45:7]: “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.”

Anointing = Strong’s 5548: χρίσμα— KREES-mah— chrisma (3 times in 2 verses)

1 John 2:20—But you have an anointing [“unction” in the KJV] from the Holy One, and you all know. [Note: Strong's will list this verse under the word unction, because it was compiled from the King James Version; but the Greek lexicon number will be the same—5548.]
1 John 2:27—As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

Who Jesus is—the Christ = the Anointed One = “Messiah” = mashiach

In the Old Testament, only three “office holders” were anointed and called mashiach:

Prophets
Priests
Kings

There is only one “anointed one,” one mashiach, in the New Testament—Yeshua haMaschiah, Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, the “Anointed One.” Jesus is:
Our Prophet—e.g.,

Acts 3:22, where Peter is preaching about Jesus as the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-19;
Ditto Stephen in Acts 7:37;
Prophet—one who speaks on behalf of God to the people
The Logos—the One who expresses the mind and heart of God the Father.

Our Priest—One who intercedes to God on behalf of the people—Hebrews 3:1, etc.
Our King; in fact, the King of Kings—1 Timothy 6:14-16; Revelation 17:14; 19:16.
Only one “anointed one” in the New Testament, and only one anointing.

But what about 2 Corinthians 1:21? “Now He who establishes us with you in the Anointed One and anointed us is God.…” That leads us into our subject for next week.

Next Week: Abiding

We’ll see how this NT concept of anointing ties in with John’s use of the word abiding, and what it all has to do with the word Christian (a chri— word we haven’t yet touched on).

Feedback

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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018 Kernels of Wheat – An Unhappy Heresy

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:32:35 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 018 – An Unhappy Heresy

Review of Last Week — Loving the World = Spiritual Adultery

If only all the heretics were this easy to spot!

Historical setting of 1 John and 1 John 2:18-29

Response to heresy? What is heresy?

A belief or teaching that denies an accepted fundamental truth of the Christian faith, usually falling into certain categories:

Beliefs about God, e.g.,

The Holy Spirit is not a person, but an “it” or an “influence”;
The Persons of the Godhead are not co-equal and co-eternal;
There are many gods;
Human beings can become god.

Beliefs about salvation – basically that something else (works, for example) must be added to the work of Christ to gain heaven.
Beliefs about Christ – usually the major category.

Can’t study early church history without studying theology, and vice versa.

When you open your door to cultists, you are facing age-old heresies:

Jesus as less than God, a “little ‘g’” god
Polytheism – there are many gods (and you can become one of them).

Heresies challenging the Church

What is true?
Was Jesus really God?
Was Jesus really Man, really human?
Are Jesus and Christ one person?

1 John may, in part, be a response to a particular heresy—Gnosticism.

Gnosticism

Gnosticism didn’t have a unified, clearcut, “neat” package of beliefs. Mutated different ways, outside of and inside of Christianity.
Meanings and import:

Know = gnoskein, from the word…
Knowledge = gnosis
Special “knowledge” liberated the “spiritual essence” of Gnostics.

Beliefs:

All matter was evil. The supreme, unknowable Being never meant for there to be “stuff.”
“Divine sparks” eventually became human beings.
Demiurge, an evil being, created things, because he was evil. They equated the Demiurge with the Creator God of the Genesis.

Tried to keep these “divine sparks” (parts of the unknowable Being) bound in flesh, in physical matter.
This stands the Genesis 3 story on its head. Who is it who tries to give the poor, bound beings special knowledge. “The Demiurge knows that when you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…”
This made Satan something of a hero.

The material universe was, at best, an illusion.

Gnostic “Gospels” – old, heretical gnostic texts, written several hundred years after Jesus died

Gnostic texts dug up in the 20th century
Prior to that, most of what we knew of heretical (i.e., “Christian”) Gnosticism came from quote made by Christian apologists in their refutations.
The modern “spin”— the early Church surpressed these texts.

The Gnostic problem—the Incarnation of Jesus.

If matter is evil, and flesh even more so, then (in Gnostic thinking) Jesus couldn’t have come “in the flesh.”
Ditto the physical resurrection. The “true God” (the Father of Jesus, not the Creator God of the Old Testament) wouldn’t bring back someone “in the flesh.”
Two views, either of which allowed Gnostics to go on believing Gnosticism:

A spirit being, the “Christ,” inhabited Jesus of Nazareth, but the two were completely different entities.
Docetism from Greek dokein = to seem (dokeo, I seem). Jesus only seemed, only appeared to come in the flesh, eat, drink, suffer, die, and be raised from the dead. (Sort of like “a hologram with substance.”)

The inspiration for much of New Age theology.

This could be the reason for John’s strong statements in…

1 John 2:22-23—”Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.”
1 John 4:2-3—“ By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.”

A benefit of heresy—

It forces us to ask “What do we believe? And how do we know?”
It forces us back to Scripture.
It forces us back to Church history, to discover the lessons the Church learned.

Some hints about what’s coming up in the next few weeks:

Nobody in the New Testament ever asked to be anointed, despite how many pray that way nowadays. We’ll find out why that is, and why we pray that way out of a serious misconception.
The word antichrist never appears in the Book of Revelation–not even once! It’s important for us to understand why that is so, why the term only appears in 1 John (and 2 John), and how that fact will give us great understanding in this Epistle of First John.

Next Week: Anointing

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

Subscribe to the Kernels of Wheat weekly podcast:

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Illustration from www.istockphoto.com and adapted
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017 Kernels of Wheat – Why the Impossible Is Impossible

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:54:17 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 017 – Why the Impossible Is Impossible

Not a “sign from God” (but just as obvious)

Review of Last Week’s “Worldly” Word Study

The Command in 1 John 2:15-17 and the Reason for It:

Don’t love the world-order or its things
If you love the world-order and its things, the love of God isn’t in you.

“All that is in the world-order” – what’s included in “all”?

The word for lust – Greek = epithumeia (noun) and epithumeo(verb)
- Doesn’t always mean “sexual lust”
- The basic meaning is strong desire (legitimate or not), as in:
  - 1 Thessalonians 2:17—”…eager with great desire [epithumeia] to see your face.”
  - Luke 22:15—[Jesus] said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Literally, “With great desire I have desired” (not “with great lust have I lusted”), using both the noun epithumeia and the verb epithumeo
Lust/strong desire of the flesh
- Oftentimes – Legitimate urges gone bad
- Literally, lusts of the flesh; that is, the sin nature, the old man: Galatians 5:19-21 (from Stern’s Jewish New Testament and E.H. Peterson’s paraphrase [not straight translation, and certainly not a "transliteration," as I accidentally called it in the audio] called The Message)
Lust/strong desire of the eyes = Covetousness
- “Evil eye” – idiomatic expression for stinginess, selfishness, greediness, miserliness, jealousy, someone who is a “taker,” not a giver.
- Single eye or healthy eye or “good eye” – idiom for generosity
- Examples of both:
  - Matthew 6:22-23
  - Proverbs 23:6—Don’t eat the food of “an evil eye” (literal Hebrew), that is, “a selfish man” (NASB).
  - Proverbs 28:22—A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth and does not know that want will come upon him.
  - Matthew 20:15—“Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious [lit. evil] because I am generous [by implication, “because my eye is single/healthy,” i.e., generous]?”
  - Mark 7:21-23—see v. 22, where “envy” is the translation of the literal “evil eye.”
  - Luke 11:34-36
Pride of life—alazoneia tou biou
- Perhaps best understood as “pride of possessions” (echo of Revelation 3:17?)
- bios = life (“biology”) but it usually meant more along these lines:
  - day-to-day life
  - manner of life; conduct
  - possessions, property, what one lives on
  - Example: Mark 12:42-44 (|| Luke 21:1-4)—the widow with the two “mites”
- The “American Dream” – house, car, better job, vacations, investments, retirement – “I’ve got it made!”
Other summations:
- J.B. Phillips:
  - primitive desires
  - greedy ambitions
  - “the glamour of all they think splendid”
- My own list of the three:
  - pursuit of pleasure
  - pursuit of possessions and position
  - pride of possessions and position
Bible examples of loving the world:
- Eve: Genesis 3:6
  - Lust of the flesh – “The tree was good for food.”
  - Lust of the eyes – “It was pleasant to the eyes.”
  - Pride of life – “A tree to be desired to make one wise.”
- Achan: Joshua 6 and 7
  - Intro: Everything in Jericho was declared cherem, i.e., “devoted to destruction,” and what could not be destroyed was to be given to the treasury of the Lord. The Greek word used in the Septuagint (LXX) to render cherem is anathema (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:22). See Joshua 6:17-19.
    - (For a refresher on the Septuagint/LXX, see Kernels of Wheat #5–God’s First Popular Bible Translation.)
  - Defeat of Israel at Ai (Joshua 7:1-5)
  - Achan’s confession (Joshua 7:20-21)
  - Because Achan took the cherem, the items devoted to destruction, he himself was cursed with God’s curse of Jericho (a curse that wasn’t lifted until hundreds of years later – 2 Kings 2:19-22).
  - Putting ourselves under the curse of the world-system? “The world-order is passing away, and its lusts; but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
Bible examples of overcoming the world-system:
- Jesus in the wilderness: Matthew 4:1-11—
  - Strong desire of the flesh – stones to bread
  - Strong desire of the eyes (but sort of in reverse order, as in “Look at Me!”) – temptation from the temple pinnacle
  - Strong desire of “boastful pride of life”/“pride of possessions” – all the kingdoms of the world-order
- Truly born-again Christians: 1 John 5:4-5

Why does this matter?

If any person loves the world-system or the things in it, God’s love is not in him.
The operative word is love, agapeo.
- Remember the context of the epistle: the goal is unbroken communion, a continual love-feast with the Godhead (chapter 1).
- James is the one who casts the situation in a very down-to-earth light of marital love versus adultery in James 4:4-5—
  - The concept of adultery means that James is casting our relationship with God as one of marriage.
  - The “Archie Syndrome” – Betty or Veronica? Archie will have to make a choice one day.
  - How faithful do you expect your spouse to be? 50% faithful? 75% faithful? 99% faithful?
  - It’s impossible to be committing adultery and be faithful to a partner in a marriage. The impossible is impossible by definition.
- Adultery is the only allowable cause for divorce. Does God have grounds for divorce from you?
- Adultery is under the death penalty according to God.
- God’s jealousy – James 4:5
Therefore “the love of the Father is not in him.”

Having a serious change of mind about the world-order and its “things”

Most North American Christians have no idea just how influenced and compromised they are by the world-order. Our view has been warped from birth by Hollywood, Madison Avenue, politics, print media, digital media…
Hebrews 13:5— Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU.”
Vance Packard—The Hidden Persuaders vs. “be content with such things as you have.”
The price of following Jesus – “all that he hath” – Luke 14:33 (in the context of 14:25-35): Amplified Bible: So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple.
Jesus’ declaration (Matthew 6:24): “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Not…
- “You shouldn’t do it.” (Although that’s also true.)
- “It’s very difficult to do, but some people manage it, so maybe you can, too.”
- YOU CANNOT DO IT. JESUS SAYS THAT THE IMPOSSIBLE IS IMPOSSIBLE.
A new definition of repentance
“The world-order is passing away…but whoever does the will of God abides forever” – that is, whoever:
- Has only one Master
- Doesn’t covet the world-system and its cherem.
- Is faithful to the Heavenly Bridegroom
- Is more than content with God alone, God Himself, counting intimate communion with Him of inestimable value.

Related Messages:

Kernels of Wheat Episode #16—If ‘God So Loved the World,’ Why Am I Not Allowed To?

Reminder:

Read through the First Epistle of John once a week
Remember to substitute the phrase “the Anointed One” for Christ or Messiah for the next few weeks, to get in practice.

Next Week: Unhappy Heresies

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

Subscribe to the Kernels of Wheat weekly podcast:

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016 Kernels of Wheat – If ‘God So Loved the World,’ Why Am I Not Allowed To?

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:30:43 +0000

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 016 – If ‘God So Loved the World,’ Why Am I Not Allowed To?

"Come again?"

Review and Tie-Up of Last Week: 1 John 2:12-14

A “Worldly” Word Study—A First Look at 1 John 2:15-17

Different Uses of the Word World in the New Testament

κοσμέω (kos MEH oh, kosmeo –> cosmetics)

Pre-New Testament Greek:

setting troops in order
women “putting themselves in order”— clothing, make-up, etc.; adorn
regulating

New Testament Usage:

Put in order

(in the sense of trim): Matthew 25:7—Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
Matthew 12:44—Then [the unclean spirit] says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. (|| Luke 11:25)

Adorn, decorate

1 Timothy 2:9-10—Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing…
Revelation 21:2—…made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
1 Peter 3:3-6—Your adornment [κόσμος - kosmos - this is the noun form; see below] must not be merely external…For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn…

Do credit to

Titus 2:9-10—…so that they will adorn [do credit to] the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.

κόσμος (KOHS-mohs, kosmos –> cosmos –> cosmonaut)

Pre-New Testament Usage:

That which is well assembled or ordered (e.g., Homer: Trojan Horse); well-integrated into the whole
From Greek philosophy: a developing concept—the order around us –> the earth and what it contains –> all of creation –> the universe (even “ideas”). Some philosophers maintained a distinction between kosmos and ouranos (οὐρανός, oo-rah-NOHS, heaven), while others combined the two.
Earth, humanity, the inhabited world.

New Testament usage:

Half of the uses of kosmos are in John’s writings (78 times)
Earth (or perhaps a larger scale, creation)— John 1:10— He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
Mankind: John 3:16— “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
That order (perhaps we should say world-order) that is now alienated from its Creator and Lord, the stage of salvation history:

James 1:27— Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James 4:4 (and see entire context)— You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
John 15:19— “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

The Church, the ekklesia, the “called out” ones. Called out of what?
Our relationship to “the world”—strangers, exiles, aliens (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11 [& 12]); also ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:19-20; Ephesians 6:20).

Our present passage: 1 John 2:15-17—”Love not the world[-system]…”, etc.

Hangovers from the King James—when a word other than “world” should have been used.

οἰκουμένη (oy-kou-MEN-ay, oikoumenē) — the inhabited earth (compare Luke 2:1 KJV with NASB) or the “Roman world,” that is, the Empire.
αἰών (ay-OWN, aiōn –> eon) — a very long segment of time; an age or era; even (in certain contexts) eternity. The adjective is αἰώνιος (ay-OWN-ee-os, aiōnios)— without beginning or ending; eternal.

Romans 12:2—And do not be conformed to this world [lit. age], but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (nasb)
2 Timothy 4:10— …for Demas, having loved this present world [lit. age], has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
Hebrews 1:2— [God]…in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world [literally, the ages].
Hebrews 11:3— By faith we understand that the worlds [literally, the ages] were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Matthew 12:32—“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age [kjv=world] or in the age [provided by translators] to come.
Matthew 28:20—“…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age [kjv=world].”
Luke 20:34-36— Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age [kjv=world] marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age [kjv=world] and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage…
1 Corinthians 2:6-8— Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age [kjv=world] nor of the rulers of this age [kjv=world], who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages [kjv=world] to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age [kjv=world] has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory…
2 Corinthians 4:3-4— And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world [lit. age] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Not the god of this world, that is, the earth, but the god of this age of the rebellious world-order
This Is My Father’s World!

So if “God so loved the world,” why am I not allowed to love it? Because:

God so loved all the people in His Creation.
We’re commanded not to love the world-order and the things it prizes and offers.

Now that we have this background, next week we’ll look at these three verses more in depth – the warning, the dangers, and the mindset and heart-change that allow us to walk free of the world-order, the world-system.

Related Messages:

Kernels of Wheat Episode #1—Words We Think We Know

Reminder:

Read through the First Epistle of John once a week
Remember to substitute the phrase “the Anointed One” for Christ or Messiah for the next few weeks, to get in practice.

Next Week: Why the Impossible Is Impossible

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

Subscribe to the Kernels of Wheat weekly podcast:

Legal stuff:
Image licensed from 123RF.com.
Podcast theme music: “Steam Train” from the John Williams album Dusty Porch, under license from Magnatune.com

015 Kernels of Wheat – Walking into Maturity

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:41:53 +0000

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 015 – Walking into Maturity

Walking into Maturity

Review and Tie-Up of Last Week: 1 John 2:8-11

Three Levels of Maturity: 1 John 2:12-14

Little children (vv. 12,13)

“Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake”
“Because you have known the Father”

Fathers (vv. 13,14)

“Because you have known Him Who is from the beginning” (twice)

Young men (vv. 13,14)

“Because you have overcome the wicked one” (twice)
“You are strong”
“The word of God abides in you”

The Goal of Maturity: Knowing Him Who is from the beginning

Compare this with “What was from the beginning” (1 John 1:1) – knowing Him who is from the beginning is the same as the fellowship of the Godhead into which we are called.
DeVern Fromke book — The Ultimate Intention

[Note: The web page for this book is "broken" as we release this episode. We'll supply a link once the problem is solved.]

Where we all start: “Little children” – this is what John calls everyone reading the epistle

On one level, we never grow out of the relationship of being “little children” before God, even the most mature of us.
“Except you are converted and become as little children” (Matthew 18:2-3)

The Three Levels and Isaiah 40:28-31

Why do these three things seem to be in reverse order (going from highest to lowest, fastest to slowest)?

Mount up with wings as eagles
Run and not get tired
Walk and not become weary

In our own wisdom, we would anticipate that the order should be

Walking, then
Running, and finally
Soaring up, “mounting up with wings”

These three levels parallel the three levels of maturity John addresses in his letter:

Little children – mounting up with wings

The joy of forgiveness and new life
Being able to call God “Father, Abba.”
The feeling of freedom after being released from the weight of guilt and sin

“Would you be freed from your burden of sin?” (from There Is Power in the Blood by Lewis Jones)
Christian’s burden in Pilgrim’s Progress

“Sky high” emotions; all excitement, all blessing, the thrill of being a new Christian.

Young men – running

Engaging God, the work of God, and the world
Earthbound, but in the fruitful way a plant is “earthbound”
Spiritual warfare

Learning how to overcome temptation
Intercession and warfare
Casting out demons

Fathers – walking and not becoming weary

John doesn’t talk about soaring in the Light or running in the Light, but of walking in the Light
The ultimate – to know Him who is from the beginning
Beulah Land by C. Austin Miles

Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling;
Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand.
Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling.
None of these shall move me from Beulah Land.

Chorus:
I’m living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky;
I’m drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry.
O yes! I’m feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,
For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.

[Link for full Beulah Land lyrics]

Jesus’ form of exercise – walking
God in the Garden of Eden — walking (Genesis 3:8)

There is no “finally arrived” in maturity – always ongoing.

All three areas being developed
The deeper you go, the more you realize you need to grow – very humbling
Are you a child or a “young man” or a “father” (“Mother in Israel”)? Eventually you get to the point where you answer, “Yes.”

Related Messages:

When Is Walking More Than Walking? (a look at 1 John 1:7)
Waiting on the Lord (in which Percy Gutteridge shares about Isaiah 40:31)

Reminder:

Read through the First Epistle of John once a week
Remember to substitute the phrase “the Anointed One” for Christ or Messiah for the next few weeks, to get in practice.

Next Week: If “God So Loved the World,” How Come I’m Not Allowed To?

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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Illustration from 123RF Stock Photo

014 Kernels of Wheat – A New Gift from Jesus

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:09:04 +0000

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 014 – A New Gift from Jesus

Reminder:

A New Gift from Jesus

Read through the First Epistle of John once a week
Remember to substitute the phrase “the Anointed One” for Christ or Messiah for the next few weeks, to get in practice.

This Week’s Passage: 1 John 2:6-11–The New Commandment, the New Gift

A Christian is someone who abides in Christ, and, thus, ought to walk in the same manner as He walked. Your walk looks more and more like the walk and life and person of Jesus.
What is the New Commandment?

“Love one another as I have loved you.”
First mentioned in John 13:30-35 (specifically v. 34)
“I give to you”—anything given is a GIFT.
“By this shall all men know that you are My disciples”; not by doctrine, miracles, worship, denominational or political stances.

The New Commandment in John 15:12-17

If there’s a “new commandment,” what’s the old one?

Three challenges/tests made against Jesus in Matthew 22:15-40
The third test was the most revealing:

The first and great commandment–Matthew 22:37-38–in which Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4-5
The second great commandment–Matthew 22:39 (“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”)–Jesus quotes from Leviticus 19:17-18.

The new commandment (“as I have loved you”) supersedes the old one (“your neighbor as yourself”).
New Covenant inner life and inner righteousness superseding Old Covenant law is an overriding theme in the Sermon on the Mount. “You have heard it said…but I say to you.…”
God is always after what’s on the inside. He wants obedience to spring from what’s on the inside. No matter how deeply God looks, He wants to be able to find righteousness and purity.
Examples:

Matthew 5:21-26–from “you shall not murder” (one of the Ten Commandments–Exodus 20:13) to looking at the underlying hatred in the heart which leads to murder.
Matthew 5:27-30–from “you shall not commit adultery” (another of the Ten Commandments–Exodus 20:14) to ”What’s in the heart which would lead to adultery?”
Matthew 5:31-32–from divorce allowed (e.g., Deuteronomy 24:1) to treating divorce like adultery.
Matthew 5:33-37–superseding vows
Matthew 5:38-42–rewriting the law of vengeance

Leviticus 24:19-20
Deuteronomy 19:21
Exodus 21:24

Matthew 5:43-48–from “love your neighbor and hate your enemy” to love and bless and do good to your enemies. (Be like God the Father–perfect in love! Matthew 5:48)

Matthew 5:20–Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Going from the realm of what is true to the realm of what is more deeply true.
God wants more than outward obedience, so He goes deeper and takes us into “that’s not fair!” territory.

In the same vein of “going deeper” and getting at the root of things, Jesus puts “the second great commandment” through a metamorphosis – Love each other as I have loved you.”

A different relationship – from servant to friend

“Friend” of the king
You get to be the friend of this king when you are toweled and kneeling and serving in love like He is.

Love which lays down life for friends
God incarnate put on a towel and washed the feet of His creatures.

Footwashing – the job of the lowest, meanest (from the same root as demeaning) slave in the household – cleaning the road dirt, “toe jam,” urine, animal dung from filthy feet and sandals. ”You love one another as I have loved you.”

The next day Jesus demonstrated this teaching again — on Calvary.

The apocryphal story of John teaching in the church of Ephesus.

We would rather have “new revelation” than be constrained to live out and work out the basics of love in the real world.
We don’t want to deal with inward sin, darkness, and selfishness.

In obeying this new commandment, we find the new gift from Jesus.

Ultimately, loving like Jesus proves that He is in you, and that you are in Him.
It’s one thing to love Jesus, and prove it by obeying Him, but…
…it’s a much deeper thing to love like Jesus! That’s the goal for which we strive and the goal toward which God works in our lives.
“They’ll know that you’re My disciples if you love like I do” — in the power of the Holy Spirit.
This commandment, if you seek with all your heart to obey it, is the gift that works in your heart to make you like Jesus – a wonderful gift indeed!

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

013 Kernels of Wheat – The Love Meter

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:07:16 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 013—The Love Meter

Review

How do you rate on God's Love Meter?

God’s desire: “That you also may have fellowship with us” (1 John 1:3) — intimate communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
The reason the Holy Spirit comes within — to draw us into that fellowship and to make us godly, Christlike
Abiding in that fellowship is the foundation of freedom from sin and sinning
“I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” (1 John 2:1)

1 John 2:1-2

“If anyone sins,” not when. For a Christian who is walking in the Light, living in the profferred communion with God, sin is a rarity, rather than a perpetual inevitability.
Jesus is presented as:

Our Parakletos, that is, our legal Advocate for when we offend.

Same word used of the Holy Spirit in John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7

Our hilasmos, that is, our perfect sacrifice, our propitiation for sin.
The verse from O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing (or, more properly, Hymn to Be Sung on the Anniversary of One’s Conversion):

See all your sins on Jesus laid;
The Lamb of God was slain.
His soul was once an offering made
For every soul of man.

Proper acknowledgement of His holy sacrifice leads us to love Jesus and hate sin, rather than using Jesus as a cover to continue sinning.

1 John 2:3-6–Taking the Love Meter Test

The modern church is radiating the wrong message.

Everybody sins all the time, and there’s no solution for it in this life other than “trying harder.”
Lordship is either optional or “later.”

This runs the other way from the Gospel message:

The confession that leads to salvation–not “Jesus is Savior,” but “Jesus is Lord.” (Romans 10:9)
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13; also Acts 2:21 and Joel 2:32)
“Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46) [Note: I think I mistakenly gave this out in the podcast as "Matthew 6:46."]
“Lord” — the address of a subject to a King, of a slave to a Master

1 John 2:3–If we know God, we obey Him.
1 John 2:4–If we say that we know God, that is, if we call ourselves “Christians,” but we don’t obey, then…

We are liars.
The Truth isn’t in us.

1 John 2:5–Obedient Christians prove their love for God by what they do, not necessarily what they think or feel.
John’s teaching on these lines comes straight from Jesus:

John 14:15–If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 14:21–Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.
John 14:23–If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

The word translated as home or abode or dwelling place is mone in the Greek = a staying, a room, an abode.
The verbal form is meno (menein in the infinitive) = abide, remain, continue, settle down. We will encounter this word in an interesting context later in chapter 2.
Exactly the same word is in John 14:2–In My Father’s house are many monai (plural of mone; that is, in My Father’s house are many abiding places.
Not “mansions,” as in the King James; the root of mansion –> Latin mansio (a remaining, a staying, a night quarters, a station) –> Latin manere (to stay, to abide) –> Greek menein (to abide, to remain, to continue, etc.)
“Mansions” is still used in places in Gr eat Britain to describe “a block of flats” (i.e., an apartment building).
This is yet another depiction of intimate communion with the Godhead:

Jesus has created not a future “mansion,” but an eternal “room” or abiding place (mone) in God Himself (14:2).
If we walk in obedience, the Father and the Son make Their room / home / abiding place inside of us.
[If you must think of mone as a "mansion," then let that motivate you to make the John 14:23 mone of the Father and Son in your heart as a "mansion" of love and obedience and devotion, for a Lord deserves to live in a great house!]

John 14:24–Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word that you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

It doesn’t get any simpler than this:

If you love, you obey. If you obey, then you love.
If you don’t obey, you don’t love. If you don’t love, you don’t obey.

Even a child can understand it!

Other verses on similar lines

Acts 5:32–receiving the Holy Spirit is conditional on obedience.
Hebrew 5:9–eternal salvation is for all those who “obey Him.”
1 Corinthians 7:19–keeping the commandments, not outward forms and ceremonies, is what God considers important.

What’s the reading on your “love meter”?

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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012 Kernels of Wheat – Are You Fulfilling Bible Prophecy?

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:30:08 +0000

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 012—Are You Fulfilling Bible Prophecy?

Are you helping to fulfill Bible prophecy by not reading the Scriptures regularly?

Prophecies You Don’t Want to Fulfill!

Some Christians will fall away from the faith, drawn away by deceitful spirits, teaching of demons, and conscience-less liars — 1 Timothy 4:1-3
The time will come [has come!] when some Christians won’t endure sound teaching, will want their “ears tickled,” and will turn their ears away from the truth — 2 Timothy 3:13–4:8.
False Christs and false prophets will be bent on deceiving God’s people — Mark 13:21-23.
The most sobering prophecy — the day when Jesus says to many of those who thought they were serving Him, “I never knew you; depart from Me.” — Matthew 7:21-23

Side note: The Adversary knows the Scriptures well, and can use them against you if you don’t know them well. He had the audacity to attempt, unsuccessfully, to deceive Jesus in this way (Matthew 4:3-11); what makes you think he won’t be successful with you?

How Do We Keep from Fulfilling These Prophecies?

Regular, daily reading of the Bible

Cover to cover
Every year

The only kind of real disciple of Jesus is a disciplined one.

Standard, Boring, Nothing-Original-Here Excuses for not Reading the Bible Systematically

“I don’t have the time.” Not true. Usually this means, “I’m lazy” or “I have other priorities” (as in “I can’t miss my favorite TV shows” or “Football [or baseball or basketball or hockey"] is way more important to me.” File this under “The dog ate my homework.” God doesn’t believe it — and you don’t either.
“I don’t like to read” or “I have a learning disability.” Remember Brother Bruce’s story. (And here I must set aside a line for an erratum: Denise points out to me that Bruce’s learning disability is severe dyslexia, not ADD—Attention Deficit Disorder—as I said in the recording. I stand corrected.)
“I don’t understand it.” And that will never change until you start reading it and keep reading it!
“I get hung up on the thees and thous.” Get a translation that’s less than 400 years old! (With all due respect to the King James translation, which I love and read as a part of my translation rotation, so many words have changed or become “extinct,” that for many people reading the KJV is like trying to push a boulder uphill.)
“I trust my [fill in the blank -- pastor, minister, parent, Sunday-school teacher, TV evangelist, etc.] to teach me all I need to know about the Bible.” Chances are awfully good nowadays that your spiritual leader doesn’t read through the Bible regularly and systematically either. And that person can never file the role of the Holy Spirit in opening up the Scriptures to you anyway!
“I might miss a day or two, and get too far behind on a regular reading schedule.” There’s no might; from personal experience I can tell you that you will miss days on occasion. Sometimes unforeseen circumstances (a.k.a. “real life”) occur.

Do what you do with TV programs or overdue bills — catch up!
If you promise God to read through regularly, keep your promise to Him. Disciple = disciplined follower.
[Not mentioned in the podcast] One hidden blessing in falling behind — you may discover the blessing of reading a book of the Bible in one sitting, and getting the full “flavor” and import of the book.

Other Thoughts

What good does it do to say, “I believe that the Bible is God’s word, infallible, inerrant, inspired,” etc., etc., if you don’t read it regularly and systematically? If you don’t read it, your life declares what you really believe about the Scriptures.
There’s a one-to-one correlation between those who faithfully and systematically read the Scriptures and those who hear from God. You need to make “daily deposits” into the “bank account” of your heart.
If you set it in your heart to read regularly, you can count on the fact that you’ll draw “enemy fire,” the goal of which will be to discourage you before systematic Bible reading becomes a fixed habit. As with physical exercise programs, the first 30 days are the most difficult. After that, it gets easier and you begin to notice real dividends.
Let me commend to you the idea of reading through the Scriptures in a different translation each year. Each one breathes something fresh into a year’s reading. My “base” translations are King James and New American Standard, weaving in New International Version, Phillips’ New Testament, a translation of the Septuagint/LXX version of the Old Testament (see Kernels of Wheat #5–God’s First Popular Bible Translation), and New Revised Standard. This coming year I’ll probably be reading through the ESV (English Standard Version), a gift from my wife for Christmas 2010. (She promptly confiscated it and used it for her 2011 Bible reading.)

Positive Notes

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16
“O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97
One of the requirements for a king to reign over God’s people was for him to make his own personal copy of the Bible, writing it out “long hand” by and for himself , and reading from it “all the days of his life.” Deuteronomy 17:18-20

Your Own Bible-Reading Chart

I offer the following links as samples, not recommendations. My thought was to introduce various types of charts that might suit different personalities and reading styles. This quick list is by no means exhaustive. Just Google “Bible-reading charts” and you’ll get over a million (yes, literally over a million!) links.

The chart you already have: Chances are good that your own Bible has a systematic reading chart, either in the front matter or (more likely) as one of the appendices in the back matter. That’s where I found my first Bible-reading chart, and that’s what I followed for the first few years of my reading.
Calendar-based chart: I used these for many years. If they have a downside, it’s that they (almost) always start on January 1st. If you want to start reading on, say, March 16th, that presents a challenge (especially when your brain keeps telling you that you’re 2½ months behind, based on the chart dates). But a calendar-based chart is great for those of you working off the “New Year’s Resolution” motivation. Try this one—http://70030.netministry.com/images/BibleChartdailyOTandNT.pdf, the link for which is found at IntoThyWord.com.
Week-based genre chart: Our friend Maxine, who has gone to be with Jesus, recommended this method. Scripture reading is broken up into 52 weeks, but otherwise undated. Each day of the week is devoted to reading from a different area of Scripture (e.g., Saturday = Gospels, Sunday = Epistles, Monday = The Law, etc.). This is sometimes called a “genre chart,” because each day of the week is devoted to a Bible genre (e.g., Prophets, Poetry, Gospels, etc.) Personally, I think this would drive me a bit crazy, because it would take me eight weeks to get through a sixteen-chapter epistle like Romans. But I provide it here as a suggestion because, as with Maxine, it might be your “cup of tea.” You’ll find this sort of chart at www.Bible-Reading.com, specifically at http://bible-reading.com/cgi-bin/download-calendar.cgi. This particular chart has the advantage of not tying the reader to a date-specified chart; “Week #1″ is whatever week the reader chooses to start.
Set-your-own-pace chart: Maybe you want to read through more quickly than once a year. Maybe it will take you longer than a year. Perhaps you want to read through the books of the Bible “out of order.” Here’s a chart style that’s fairly adaptive and less structured. A sample of this can be found at http://NTResources.com/other.html, and specifically http://NTResources.com/documents/BibleRdgChart.pdf.
A start-in-Genesis-and-end-in-Revelation straight-through chart: This is how most people read any other book. In my mind, this is almost a “guaranteed failure” approach, especially for the first-time reader encountering early on the intricacies of tabernacle furniture, Levitical rituals, minutia about sacrifices, and genealogies, for instance. (This method nearly derailed my reading the first time through; I didn’t think I’d get out of Leviticus and Numbers alive!) I much prefer a system that allows me to read something in the New Testament and Old Testament every day. But I include it as a possible method anyhow, to be found on IntoThyWord.com at this link–http://70030.netministry.com/images/ThroughtheBiblePlan.pdf.
Chronological chart: Many years ago, after numerous times through the Scriptures, I concocted a chronological Bible-reading chart, which integrated and interleaved the various Old and New Testament readings based on when they happened on the timeline of history. For instance, Psalm 51, David’s psalm of repentance after his sin with Bathsheba against Uriah was exposed, was assigned reading on the same day 2 Samuel 12 was on the chart; or the various Gospel accounts of a particular miracle or parable might be read on the same day. I’ve long since misplaced that chart. And there are others on the ‘Net; but I haven’t had a chance to read through them, so I don’t know if there are any I can recommend. Nevertheless, if you do your own homework, you’ll no doubt find one that fits the bill. This is a particularly fresh reading approach for those who have read through the Scriptures several times and are looking for a unique and instructive journey through a year’s worth of Bible reading. If you find one you like, or you’ve been using one that has been a blessing to you, drop me a note in the Comments area below.
The chart I currently use: This works for me, but I don’t recommend it, any more than an experienced runner would recommend that you run a 26.2-mile marathon on your first day of jogging. (As I mentioned, I’m now reading through the Old Testament twice a year and the New Testament four times a year.) This chart’s not perfect, and I’m tweaking it all the time. I mainly include it here to show that you can create your own, individualized Bible-reading chart if you have just a little bit of ability with a spreadsheet program like LibreOffice Calc or Microsoft Excel–Jim’s Chart.

Don’t Miss Out on the Blessings!

There are certain blessings from God which can be received no other way than by regular, systematic cover-to-cover reading of the Bible. If you’ll “take this yoke upon you,” you’ll find this discipline of repeated whole-Bible reading a yoke that’s “easy” and a “burden” that’s “light”; and you’ll learn of and from Jesus in the process (Matthew 11:28-30). And whatever you do, don’t wind up fulfilling Bible prophecy by your neglect of God’s Book!

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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011 Kernels of Wheat – The Original Aromas of Christmas

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:50:39 +0000

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 011 - The Original Aromas of Christmas

There's a reason why nobody talks about the 'aromas' of the first Christmas!

The Aromas of Modern Christmas — Modern Luxuries

In North American culture, we associate various aromas and fragrances with Christmas — pine boughs, “chestnuts roasting on an open fire,” pumpkin pie, roasted turkey, baked ham, yams, apple pie, hot chocolate, and egg nog.

The Original “Aromas” of Christmas–Dung and Urine

Luke 2:1-20–The story of the shepherds, the angels, and the stable

Confusing a stable with a manger. (French: mange = eat; thus, a manger = a feeding trough)
Children sing about the camels and donkeys and cows and sheep and who-knows-what in the stable
We display clean, tidy little “manger scenes” – but not true to the original.
Not true to how our hearts are when Jesus comes in—full of filth and vile things.
Farmers grow accustomed to the stench through long association with it. We grow accustomed to the stench of sin and selfishness in our hearts. We need to have our spiritual “noses” re-sensitized in order to smell what’s really there. (Analogy: smokers)

More Pleasant Aromas from the Continuing Story

Matthew 2:1-12 — The Visit of the Magi

Here are good reasons to keep the “wise men” out of your nativity scenes:

Came two years after the birth
Note the change from stable to house.

What kind of a father figure would Joseph have been if his family was still living in a filthy stable two years later?
Continual mucking required if we continue living in the stable

The stench never goes away.
The stable is never clean

This is indicative of the fulfillment of God’s New Covenant promise in Ezekiel 36:25-27—a new heart!
The “first and great commandment” becomes a promise: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

You can’t love God with all your heart if there’s something in it that’s bound and determined not to obey him. That “something” is called variously:

The “old man”
The carnal mind
The sin nature
The want-to of sin
In the context of this message we can sum up this sin nature as the manure- and urine-producing animals of the stable.

God giving us a new heart is the equivalent of moving from a filthy stable to a clean, dry house.
No “Glade™ Christianity” – psht! psht! – trying to cover up the stench of sin with air freshener

The worship of the magi – word for worship = prostration

Couldn’t be done on the floor of the filthy stable
What kind of housekeeper do you think Mary was?
Speaks of true worship that comes from the new heart God gives

The three gifts of the magi (not necessarily three magi):

Gold
Frankincense (prayer) — its uses:

Compounded with several other spices to form the incense used in the tabernacle (Exodus 30:34)
Offered with the grain offering (“meat offering” kjv): Leviticus 2:1-2; 6:15
Offered with the firstfruits offering (Leviticus 2:15-16)
Poured over the “bread of the Presence” (“Face”) in the Holy Place (Leviticus 24:7)
A perfume (Song of Solomon 3:6; 5:6)

Myrrh and its uses:

The major ingredient in the anointing oil of the tabernacle (Exodus 30:23)
Perfume (Esther 2:12; Psalm 45:8; Proverbs 7:17; Song of Solomon 1:13; 3:6; 4:6,14; 5:1,5,13)
A narcotic given to condemned prisoners (Mark 15:23)
An embalming perfume (John 19:39)

In 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 Paul is probably speaking about myrrh when he says:

God manifests through us the sweet aroma of Christ in every place
We are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing
To those who are being saved, we are an aroma of death to death

Death to self!

Anything less than that and we begin to perceive someone relying on “Glade” to cover up other odors that are less than savory.
To those who are perishing, we are meant to be an aroma of life to life.
“The house was filled with the odor of the ointment”—said of Mary in John 12:3
No Glade™ needed here!
Calvary becomes “a mountain of myrrh and a hill of frankincense” (Song of Solomon 4:6)

(See also Percy Gutteridge’s message This Shall Be a Sign unto You.)

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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010 Kernels of Wheat – That Uncomfortable Word, Part 2

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:31:57 +0000

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 010 – That Uncomfortable Word – Part 2

Reviewing the Article So Far

Most of the “notes” for this week can be found in the online article entitled That Uncomfortable Word–Conviction!

What is sin? Sin is anomia–lawlessness, to be outside of God’s revealed Law (1 John 3:4).
The Questions We Seek to Answer:

What is conviction?
How does God accomplish conviction?
How may we yield ourselves to God to see true conviction of sin–and thus true and real conversions–through our ministries?

Six Tools the Holy Spirit Uses to Accomplish Conviction:

Human Agency
God’s Moral Law
The Attributes of God
Human Conscience
The Gift of Prophecy
Any Means that Strikes God’s Fancy

Key Scriptures This Week Include:

John 4:16-24
Acts 17:22-31
John 8:2-12
1 Corinthians 14:24-25
Jude 20-23
Revelation 3:19

For Next Week: The Love Meter

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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(Stock photo used under license from 123rd.com.)

009 Kernels of Wheat – That Uncomfortable Word

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:02:27 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 009 – That Uncomfortable Word

Very uncomfortable indeed...

Introduction

“Sinning Christians” (an oxymoron) aren’t entirely responsible for being careless about continuing in sin, since they came in under a “gutted Gospel,” one that omits not only taking up one’s cross to follow Jesus, but also omitting the key Gospel element the Holy Spirit uses to expose sin and convict of it.

Key Scripture from 1 John:

What is sin? 1 John 3:4 defines what sin is—”Sin is anomia” (a = without + nomos = law):

NASB & NIV: “Sin is lawlessness.”
KJV: “Sin is the transgression of the law.”
Phillips: “…that is what sin is, by definition—a breaking of God’s law.”
Amplified: “…for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness [the breaking or violating of God’s law by transgression or neglect; being unrestrained and unregulated by His commands and His will].”

Key Resource for This Week:

The show notes are short this week because most of the content comes from an article entitled That Uncomfortable Word—Conviction! on the FinestOfTheWheat.org website, but Bible passages referred to include:

John 16:7-11
Jeremiah 17:9-10
1 John 3:4
Romans 7:7-14
1 Timothy 1:8-11

For Next Week: Conviction, Part 2

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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(Stock photo used under license from 123rd.com.)

008 Kernels of Wheat – Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:59:52 +0000

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 008 – Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! (1 John 1:6-2:6)

Recycled-Tin Artwork by Jenny Fillius at jennyfillius.com. (Click on image for full link.) Website image used by permission. Original is currently being used by the Seattle City Department of Cultural Affairs.

To get the most out of this ongoing Bible study:

Read through 1 John once a week.

National Prayer Chapel

I mentioned work on the National Prayer Chapel’s site. Visit NationalPrayerChapel.com to see what they’re doing there. (And don’t be surprised if you see the Kernels of Wheat podcast start appearing there soon.)

Review and Context:

Walking with or before God = being pleasing to God
“I write these things to you that you may not sin.” (1 John 2:1)
The blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses us from inward sin IF we walk in the light.

The Heart, the Covenants, and “God Who Knows the Hearts”

Under the Old Covenant

Jeremiah 17:9-10 — Who can know the deceitful, desperately wicked heart? “I, the Lord!”

The Promise of the New Covenant

Hebrews 8:8-13
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Ezekiel 36:26-27

The Heart of the New Covenant

Acts 15:7-9 — hearts purified by faith by “God Who knows the hearts.”

Today’s First John Passage: 1 John 1:6—2:6

1:6 — Lying, and the truth not being in us
1:8 — Self-deceit, another form of lying
1:10 — Making God a liar
2:4 — Saying one thing, doing another = liar

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

The lie too many of us believe and repeat, in it themes and variations:

Sin is “okay.” Sin isn’t important, so God understands and forgives. That’s a lie.
Jesus is my Savior, but not my Lord, so I don’t yet have to give up sin. That’s a lie. If Jesus isn’t Lord, are you really saved? The Scripture says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13), not “the name of the Savior, but not yet my Lord.”
“As long as I don’t die while I’m in the act of sin, and I confess my sin, everything is all right.” That’s a lie.
Pointing out people’s sins, especially the sinful lives of many Christians is legalism. That’s a lie.
A variation on the Flip Wilson/Geraldine Jones defense – “The debbbbill made me do it!” – I can’t ever be free from sinning because of my sin nature. (“My sin nature made me do it.”) Lie.
“When God looks at me, He sees Jesus, not me. He doesn’t see the sins I keep committing willfully, He sees Jesus’ righteousness. God isn’t ‘hung up’ about sin.” That is a MONSTROUS lie. Yes, God is very hung up about sin—Jesus was ‘hung up’ on a cross to save you from sin. If HE thought it was that serious of an issue, everyone who names the name of Christ had better see it as equally important.

1 John 1:9 and Confession

The word confess in Greek is homologeo, that is, to say the same thing. Do we say — and believe — the same thing as God about our sins (and our sin)?
What God says about continued, willful sin can be read in Hebrews 10:26-31. Bear in mind that these word were written to and about believers, not unbelievers.
Those who confess and forsake sins find mercy (Proverbs 28:13). With that kind of deep “confession” comes comes God’s “faithful and righteous” forgiveness and cleansing.

Food for thought — “Christian” sin?

For Next Week: That Uncomfortable Word

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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007 Kernels of Wheat – Walking in Freedom

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:38:36 +0000

Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Episode 007 – Walking in Freedom (1 John 1:6-7)

The Kernels of Wheat podcast

Teaching and Bible study notes by Jim Kerwin

Verse: 1 John 1:6

If we say that we have fellowship with Him
and yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not practice the truth;

Lying about fellowship with God; poor excuses for Christians.
If we say (or imply) that we are Christians – that is, that we live in close fellowship with God – but our lives and hearts say otherwise, that is a serious form of hypocrisy or lying.
Walking in darkness is a description of the opposite of living in close communion with God.
Walking in darkness is characterized by continuing in sin (even “acceptable” sin), worldliness, and selfishness, all things which grieve God’s Spirit.
Walking in darkness is the opposite of taking up your cross, denying yourself, and following Jesus.
Isaiah 59:2—But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Verse: 1 John 1:7

…but IF we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light,
[THEN] we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all SIN.

Remember that the “one another” is fellowship with God and God’s fellowship with us.
Walking first, then cleansing (not the other way around); we would have it backwards
Cleansing is ongoing and deals with sin, not sins.; Greek tense is present active indicative.

“Ask, and keep on asking,” etc., as in Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9

Conditional statement; that is, it’s an IF/THEN statement

IF – we walk in the light (the condition)
THEN two results follow:

We continue in fellowship with the Godhead and other Christians who abide in this same fellowship; AND,
The blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all SIN.

Walking in God, Who is Light, means that every dark thing in us is dealt with thoroughly and radically:

Every pet sin, and every excuse for sinfulness
Every worldly thing which we love
Every selfish ambition, goal, or reaction that we have
Every thing which God Who is Light points out to us as darkness…

We confess, repent of it, release it, crucify it, leave it behind; and we keep on walking in the Light, until all the dark things are burned away, all the dark corners are illuminated.

Verses 7-10: Sin (the nature, vv. 7-8) and sins (the acts of rebellion, vv. 9-10) are distinct.

The early Church’s current concept of sin

“If any man sins…,” not when. (2:1)
Instant death of Ananias and Sapphira for lying. (Acts 5)
Sin shall not have dominion over you (Romans 6:14)
“Go and sin no more.” (John 5:14; 8:11)
“Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 20:7; 1 Peter 1:15-16)
This is the will of God, even your sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He Who calls you, Who also will do it! (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

Too much of the modern Church’s concept of sin sounds something like this:

God wants you to be free from sin, but He knows that you can’t be. While victory over sin can happen, it’s only temporary, or only available for super-spiritual people. You have a sin nature that you can’t completely overcome, so the best you can do is to stuff it down in your heart and sit on the lid, and go through the same, sad failure cycle repeatedly. You have to put up with this inner turmoil until you die, fighting an inbred enemy variously called:

the sin nature
the carnal mind
the old man, etc.

and then Death (which is your enemy and Jesus’ enemy, according to 1 Corinthians 15:26) will kindly do for you what Jesus either couldn’t or wouldn’t do during your earthly lifetime – it will free you from indwelling sin.

Prejudice Against God and His Truth?

Through many decades of excusing sin, watering down the Gospel to make it more palatable to sinners (who really aren’t “sinners” – they’re just “unchurched”!), we have been prejudiced against God and His truth by a theology that minimizes sin and sinfulness and God’s hatred of both. Worse, we’ve been asked to accept something just short of a blasphemy against a holy God – the lie that the God Who commands us, saying, “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy,” made no provision for us to live holy lives before Him.

Walking in the Light—communing with God—enlarges our hearts and minds, and frees us to believe God-sized thoughts. Dwelling in that Light changes dark thinking, and causes “the eyes of our understanding to be enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18).

Without meaning to, we have made the Sin problem bigger than God. Think about how serious the sin problem was and how God tackled it:

God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent — all-knowing, present everywhere, and all-powerful.
The only—and best—solution God could provide was to come Himself, the Logos, the second person of the Trinity, in the person of Jesus Christ.
Interposing Himself as the solution for sins and their penalty and for sin itself, do you think God decided to do the job only halfway?

The “sewer in the living room” analogy: Do you clothes-pin your nose and keeping stomping on cockroaches or go for a more permanent solution?

Saved to the “Uttermost”

And this is the solution God provided, something additional we haven’t usually been told – as we walk in the Light in intimate fellowship with God, we experience freedom from indwelling sin, because the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, continually cleanses us. If you’re continually cleansed, you’re clean!

Hebrews 7:25 says of Jesus that He “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

uttermost – some translations give this out as “forever,” and that’s a true, but incomplete, rendering. “Uttermost” also means thoroughly, completely, leaving nothing undone.

The Hymn: Walk in the Light, by Bernard Barton (1784-1849)

Walk in the light: so shalt thou know
That fellowship of love
His Spirit only can bestow,
Who reigns in light above.

[Click this link for the complete lyrics.]

For Next Week: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

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More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

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006 Kernels of Wheat – When Is Walking More Than Walking?

jim@finestofthewheat.org (Jim Kerwin) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 20:52:55 +0000

Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Episode 006: When Is Walking More Than Walking?

Teaching and Bible Study notes by Jim Kerwin. Passage for this episode: 1 John 1:5—2:2, focusing on “walking” in 1:6-7.

The Bible Concept of Walking

How are we to understand “walk in darkness” and “walk in the light” in vv. 6-7?
God’s original depiction of fellowship: Genesis 3:8-9: “…they heard the qol [the voice] of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…”

What We Learn from the Septuagint/LXX about Walking

Hebrews 11:5 and Enoch’s story
How the Septuagint translators chose to translate “walking with God”

Passage	Hebrew Old Testament	Greek Old Testament (LXX)
Genesis 5:22,24	Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah… Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.	And Enoch was well-pleasing to God, after his begetting Mathusala…And Enoch was well-pleasing to God, and was not found, because God translated him.
Genesis 6:9 [This is the correct reference; a typo in my recording notes read "5:9"]	…Noah walked with God.	…Noe was well-pleasing to God.
Genesis 17:1	Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless.”	And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am thy God, be well-pleasing to Me and be blameless.”

More “Walking” Phrases Equivalent to Walking in the Light

Walking in the Spirit (e.g., Romans 8:1,4; Galatians 5:16,25)
Walking by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Walking in good works (Ephesians 2:10)
Walking in love (Ephesians 5:2)
Walking in Christ (Colossians 2:6) and as He walked (1 John 2:6)
Walking worthy of God (Ephesians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:12)
Walking in truth (2 John 4; 3 John 3,4)
Walking in the commandments (2 John 6, and many OT verses)

If you’d like to look into these and other Scriptural mentions of walking further, you can download the extensive Bible study on walking from this link.

Walking in the Light: a picture of sanctification, freedom from indwelling sin

Susannah Wesley’s advice:

If you would judge of the lawfulness or the unlawfulness of pleasure, then take this simple rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, and takes off the relish of spiritual things—that to you is sin.

Being Led from Within:

Letting the peace of Christ rule/judge/decide/arbitrate in the heart—Colossians 3:15

Note: By “divine coincidence,” as I was writing up these notes, a pre-scheduled recording of Evangelist Thomas Cook’s chapter The Arbiter of the Heart became available on the Finest of the Wheat website. If you’d like to pursue this particular aspect of our subject:

Play the recording of The Arbiter of the Heart right here:
Download the recording for free from KernelsOfWheat.com/Arbiter-Audio.
Read the chapter from which the recording was made: KernelsOfWheat.com/Arbiter-Article.

“This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21)
“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes…” (Ezekiel 36:27)

For Next Week: Walking in Freedom

Feedback

Your feedback is appreciated. Leave a comment (below) or drop us an e-mail.

More teaching by Jim Kerwin and others can be found on the Finest of the Wheat website.

Subscribe to the Kernels of Wheat weekly podcast:

Kernels of Wheat Podcast

Interview with Roy Olsen of Apa Vie Ministries, Romania

Introducing and Reporting:

Concise Overview of My Ministry Time in Romania:

Find Out More About Apa Vie Ministries:

Quick Update on Guatemala:

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024 Kernels of Wheat – Antichrist: In the Pew Next to You?

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 024 – Antichrist: In the Pew Next to You?

Review of Last Episode

Going Through the Relevant Details about Antichrist in 1 John & 2 John

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023 Kernels of Wheat — Will the Real Antichrist(s) Please Stand Up?

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 023 – Will the Real Antichrist(s) Please Stand Up?

A Short History of Antichrist

Review of 1 John 2:18-29

Speculation Started with the Early Church Fathers (a sampling)

The Pope or Papacy as Antichrist (another sampling)

In the Twentieth Century (and in my lifetime), people “conclusively proven” to be “the Antichrist” by prophecy “experts”

Will the Real Antichrists Please Stand Up?

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022 Kernels of Wheat — We Lend a Hand with LendAHand in Costa Rica

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 022 – We Lend a Hand with LendAHand in Costa Rica, Including an Interview with Bobby Hoyle

Next Episode:

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021 Kernels of Wheat — Does God Hate Socks?

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 021 — Does God Hate Socks?

Related Blogs:

Next Episode:

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020 Kernels of Wheat – Do You Have Indoor Plumbing?

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 020 - Do You Have Indoor Plumbing?

Abiding

How the Apostle John Uses the Word Abiding

Consistent with Paul’s Understanding and Teaching

Next Session: Antichrist

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019 Kernels of Wheat – What We Don’t Know About ‘The Anointing’

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 019 - What We Don’t Know about “The Anointing”

Study on the words anoint and anointing

Next Week: Abiding

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018 Kernels of Wheat – An Unhappy Heresy

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 018 – An Unhappy Heresy

Review of Last Week — Loving the World = Spiritual Adultery

Historical setting of 1 John and 1 John 2:18-29

Gnosticism

A benefit of heresy—

Some hints about what’s coming up in the next few weeks:

Next Week: Anointing

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017 Kernels of Wheat – Why the Impossible Is Impossible

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 017 – Why the Impossible Is Impossible

Review of Last Week’s “Worldly” Word Study

The Command in 1 John 2:15-17 and the Reason for It:

“All that is in the world-order” – what’s included in “all”?

Why does this matter?

Having a serious change of mind about the world-order and its “things”

Related Messages:

Reminder:

Next Week: Unhappy Heresies

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016 Kernels of Wheat – If ‘God So Loved the World,’ Why Am I Not Allowed To?

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 016 – If ‘God So Loved the World,’ Why Am I Not Allowed To?

Review and Tie-Up of Last Week: 1 John 2:12-14

A “Worldly” Word Study—A First Look at 1 John 2:15-17

Different Uses of the Word World in the New Testament

Related Messages:

Reminder:

Next Week: Why the Impossible Is Impossible

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015 Kernels of Wheat – Walking into Maturity

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 015 – Walking into Maturity

Review and Tie-Up of Last Week: 1 John 2:8-11

Three Levels of Maturity: 1 John 2:12-14

The Goal of Maturity: Knowing Him Who is from the beginning

The Three Levels and Isaiah 40:28-31

There is no “finally arrived” in maturity – always ongoing.

Related Messages:

Reminder:

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 022 – We Lend a Hand with LendAHand in Costa Rica, Including an Interview with Bobby Hoyle

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 021 — Does God Hate Socks?

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 020 - Do You Have Indoor Plumbing?

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 019 - What We Don’t Know about “The Anointing”

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 018 – An Unhappy Heresy

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 017 – Why the Impossible Is Impossible

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 016 – If ‘God So Loved the World,’ Why Am I Not Allowed To?

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 015 – Walking into Maturity

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 014 – A New Gift from Jesus

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 013—The Love Meter

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 012—Are You Fulfilling Bible Prophecy?

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 011 - The Original Aromas of Christmas

Jim Kerwin’s Show Notes for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 010 – That Uncomfortable Word – Part 2

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 009 – That Uncomfortable Word

Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast
Episode 008 – Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! (1 John 1:6-2:6)