9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Isaiah 40:9




"Many saints are content to live like men in coal mines, who do not see the sun; they eat dust like the serpent when they might taste the food of angels; they are content to wear the miner's garb when they might put on king's robes; tears disfigure their faces when they might anoint them with celestial oil. I am convinced that many a believer pines in a dungeon when he might walk on the palace roof and view the goodly land. Rouse yourself, believer, from your low condition! Discard your laziness, your lethargy, your coldness, or whatever interferes with your sincere and pure love for Christ, your soul's Husband. Make Him the source, the center, and the circumference of your soul's whole range of delight."

Read Nearer to God, by Alistair Begg

The season is upon us.  Time to lift our heads, raise ourselves out of the pit, as He wishes it!  It is time to give great glory to the Lord!  Georg Friedrich Händel can help if you are in need of a little inspiration.  "Lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, and be not afraid." "The Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."

Have you found the Biblical Archaeology Society?  Follow the link to find a wealth of treasure!  I feel it is somewhat miraculous that the topic of today's email is "The Miracles of Jesus."  Following on the heels of the news about the pope's declaration that Jesus was no prophet, I feel this information is sent to all of us to affirm and verify that Jesus is indeed our prophet.  The article I site, Understanding Jesus' Miracles, leads us to the actual geophysical sites where some of the most beloved miracles that Jesus perfomed occurred, not for the blind man, not for Lazarus, not for him who was possessed, but for all of us...

"That Jesus was a miracle worker is central to the Christology of the New Testament Gospels and Acts. In Mark, the earliest Gospel, 17 stories of miracles appear in the first eight chapters. Most of the stories are repeated by Matthew and Luke. In Peter’s Pentecost speech, he recalls Jesus’ ministry by saying that Jesus was “a man designated … by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him” (Acts 2:22). Some scholars tell us that a so-called Signs Source was incorporated into the Gospel of John, according to which 12 signs or miracles are recounted in chapters 1 through 12. The ending of the original Gospel of John even assures the reader that Jesus “did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book” (John 20:30; chapter 21 was added later)."

"The Gospel of John recounts two healing miracles Jesus performed in Jerusalem. In one, Jesus cured a man who had been blind from birth. Jesus mixed his saliva with mud, applied the mixture to the blind man’s eyes and told him to bathe in the Pool of Siloam. When the man did so, he was healed (John 9:6–7). In the other, Jesus cured a crippled man lying on a mat who had been unable to walk for 38 years. This occurred at another Jerusalem pool, the Pool of Bethesda (or Bethzatha or Bethsaida, according to various manuscripts), where invalids—blind, lame and paralyzed—would gather in the porticoes. According to some ancient manuscripts,1 an angel would stir up the waters of the pool and whoever would enter the water first would be cured. The canonical text goes on to say that by the time the crippled man got to the pool, as he recounts to Jesus, “Someone else steps down ahead of me.” So the crippled man cannot get to the curative waters in time. But Jesus simply declares to the man, “Stand up, take up your mat, and walk.” The text goes on: “And at once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk” (John 5:2–9)."

"Few places better illustrate the layered history that archaeology uncovers than the little ridge known as the City of David, the oldest inhabited part of Jerusalem. For example, to tell the story of the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus cured the blind man, we must go back 700 years before that—to the time of the Assyrian monarch Sennacherib and his siege of Jerusalem.

Hezekiah, the Judahite king at that time, could see the Assyrian siege coming. Protective steps were clearly called for, especially to protect Jerusalem’s water supply. The only source of fresh water at this time was the Gihon Spring, near the floor of the adjacent Kidron Valley. So Hezekiah decided on a major engineering project—he would construct a tunnel under the ridge on which the City of David lay to bring the water of the spring to the other, less vulnerable, side of Jerusalem. It was dug by two teams of tunnelers working from opposite ends, meeting in the middle—it’s still a mystery how they managed to meet, but they did. A memorial plaque was carved in the tunnel wall to commemorate the feat—the famous Siloam Inscription, now in the Istanbul Museum (it was discovered in Ottoman times). Water flowed through the tunnel from the spring to the Pool of Siloam at the other end. It is still known as Hezekiah’s Tunnel, and it is still a thrill for tourists to walk through its 1750-foot length."

"Almost from the beginning of Christianity, the area around the Sea of Galilee has been a major focus of Christian pilgrimage, a focus second only to Jerusalem. To the Galilee flocked not only pilgrims, but also monks and scholars, searching for the places that Jesus had known.

Sites such as Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ mission before he left for Jerusalem; Bethsaida, the birthplace of the apostles Andrew, Peter and Philip; Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene; Tabga, where the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fishes occurred; and the Sea of Galilee itself—all are places that to the Christian recall events connected with Jesus’ life, the miracles he performed and the sacred words he uttered."

The pictures and text above are but a small sampling of what is to be found at BAS.  Though we here at One Saint don't generally employ a buy and sell tactic, I would like to recommend a yearly membership to the Biblical Archaeology Society.  Or, you can sign up for free ebooks and register to receive their regular newsletter.  Whether you join or remain a free member, this is the place were scripture gets real!

(all pictures and quoted text above are from Biblical Archaeology Society)

A one world government is fast approaching.  If you know where to look you will see the way being paved:  Agenda 21, codex alimentarius, WHO, the United Nations, the NAFTA super highway, the Euro, and much more.  Here, you will find quotes by various world leaders (including Pope Benedict XVI) that pave the way to a one world government. Everywhere we look in the media, there are hints.  We are being socially conditioned to accept and prepare.  The recent news that Pope Benedict XVI  has declared Jesus Christ was no prophet is more of the same. 

It is interesting that prophecy speaks of this Pope, and that Jesus himself warned us to be on the lookout for "wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." (Matthew 24:28)  It follows suit that one of the most powerful religious leaders (certainly the richest) is now trying to discredit Christianity, smelter and boil down all religion to create one that will appease and mollify the masses of the world. To discredit Jesus Christ in such a way is also an indication that this one world religion will also delight the ruler of this world.  This one world ruler hates Jesus, and the papacy is in cahoots.  
 
Following, we site two articles, and our hope is that you will peruse the gory details for yourself...

Pope: Christ Was Not a Prophet!
November 19, 2012, by Ron Fraser, From theTrumpet.com

"In a startling statement made during his Monday Angelus to the faithful, Pope Benedict declares Jesus Christ was no prophet.

"...In a startling pronouncement about Jesus Christ’s revelation of the signs leading up to His return to Earth, Pope Benedict declared that “Jesus does not describe the end of the world, and when He uses apocalyptic images, He does not act as a ‘seer.’ On the contrary, He wishes to ensure that His disciples in every age remain unmoved by dates and predictions.

"This statement is so far removed from reality, it can only represent a deliberate attempt to pervert the truth. It argues against the very reality of biblical revelation itself.

"The very power by which Jesus Christ ministered on Earth was clearly revealed as a Spirit which “will show you things to come” (John 16:13).

"Jesus Christ Himself gave, in live format, delivered direct to His disciples, the most powerfully detailed prophecy about the future, most especially the end times, that is preserved in the Bible (Matthew 24; Mark 13, Luke 21).

"The Word of God declares of the very Godhead, “Worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).

"The pope’s statement is not just a grave deceit. It goes beyond that. It is plain blasphemy...

"...In reality, the pope’s words are a declaration of war against those who preserve the testimony of the greatest of prophets, Jesus Christ.

"...This latest statement by Pope Benedict ought to powerfully motivate any who still have a remaining vestige of the testimony of Jesus Christ remaining in their memory to hastily repent and come cleave to the Father of lights where His lamp of revelatory truth burns so brightly!"

Ron Fraser prompts us to learn from the greatest prophet of all, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior, and leads us to scripture that reveals Christ's message:

(Revelation 13:5-6)
5 There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

(Revelation 13:11)
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon.

(Revelation 12:17)
17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

(Matthew 24:21)
21 "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will."

Pope Benedict XVI’s End Time Eisegesis,
by Cris Putnam, 11/20/2012

Cris Putnam sites the text of Pope Benedict's speech:

"Jesus speaks of a future that is beyond our categories, and because of this Jesus uses images and words taken from the Old Testament, but, importantly, he inserts a new center, namely, himself, the mystery of his person and his death and resurrection. Today’s passage too opens with some cosmic images of an apocalyptic nature: “The sun will be darkened, the moon will no longer give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the skies will be shaken” (Mark 13:24-25); but this element is relativized by what follows: “Then the Son of Man will come upon the clouds in the sky with great power and glory” (13:26). The “Son of Man” is Jesus himself, who links the present with the future; the ancient words of the prophets have finally found a center in the person of the Messiah of Nazareth: he is the central event that, in the midst of the troubles of the world, remains the firm and stable point.

"Another passage from today’s Gospel confirms. Jesus says: “The sky and the earth will pass away but my words will not pass away” (13:31). In fact, we know that in the Bible the word of God is at the origin of creation: all creatures, starting with the cosmic elements – sun, moon, sky – obey God’s Word, they exist insofar as they are “called” by it. This creative power of the divine Word (“Parola”) is concentrated in Jesus Christ, the Word (“Verbo”) made flesh, and also passes through his human words, which are the true “sky” that orients the thought and path of man on earth. For this reason Jesus does not describe the end of the world and when he uses apocalyptic images he does not conduct himself like a “visionary.” On the contrary, he wants to take away the curiosity of his disciples in every age about dates and predictions and wishes instead to give them a key to a deep, essential reading, and above all to indicate the right path to take, today and tomorrow, to enter into eternal life. Everything passes – the Lord tells us – but God’s Word does not change, and before this Word each of us is responsible for his conduct. It is on this basis that we will be judged."

Read Pope Benedict's XVI “On the Coming of the Son of Man” here.

Chris then directs us to scripture and elaborates, as he points the way to the truth, the light and the word.  

(Daniel 7:13)
13 "I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.

(Matthew 24:3)
3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately , saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

(Isaiah 64:6)
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

(Romans 4:5)
5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

(2 Corinthians 5:21)
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

(Ephesians 2:8)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God ;

(Romans 3:28)
28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

"Be warned," says Cris, "the pope is preaching a false Gospel that leads to damnation."






(all pictures and quoted text are taken from links above)

"Biblical Scholar James Tabor Looks From the Gospels to Wadi el-Yabis... This article was originally published on Dr. James Tabor’s popular Taborblog, a site that discusses and reports on “‘All things biblical’ from the Hebrew Bible to Early Christianity in the Roman World and Beyond.” Bible History Daily republished the article with consent of the author."

Biblical Archaeology presents, "A "Jesus Hideout" in Jordan, by James Tabor.








(illustrations and text are from the article, linked above)

"...It is interesting that Mark provides a few “hooks” into John’s framework. The most obvious is the sequence of  events with Jesus feeding a crowd, walking on the Sea of Galilee, and  teaching in the area of Capernaum, found in Mark 6 and John 6. According to John’s account this is around the time of a 2nd Passover, which  would be the spring of the year 29 CE. The most interesting and  intriguing of these “hooks,” however, is the short statement in Mark 10:1:

“And he left there (Capernaum) and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again; and again, as his custom was, he taught them.”

Until the last week of Jesus’ life when Jesus goes to Jerusalem, Mark sets his entire rapid-paced narrative around the Sea of Galilee, but here he seems to at least be aware of the tradition that we find elaborated in John, that Jesus made these excursion-like forays south to Judea and east beyond the Jordan. Jesus’ move across the Jordan River during the final months of his life is something that really caught my attention in the spring of 1992. I was teaching my standard New Testament/Christian Origins class and we were working through the ending of the gospel of John when these words jumped off the page at me:

“He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained. And many came to him…” (John 10:40)"

"James Tabor describes Wadi el-Yabis as "incredibly rugged with water falls, pools, and surrounding high cliffs on both sides, dotted with abundant caves." Tabor believes Jesus took refuge in this wadi during his excursions east of the Jordan.

"Artist Balage Balogh portrays Jesus and his small band of followers living in this Wadi that last winter of Jesus’ life."

1 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100

"ISRAELI aircraft pummelled the rocket arsenals of Gaza militants on Friday and signaled a ground invasion might be growing near as troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers massed near Israel's southern border with the Palestinian territory.  Fighting between the two sides escalated sharply with a first-ever militant attack on the Tel Aviv area, menacing Israel's heartland.

"No casualties were reported, but three people died in the country's rocket-scarred south when a projectile slammed into an apartment building.

"The death toll in the densely populated Palestinian territory climbed to 19, including five children according to Palestinian health officials, as waves of Israeli fighter planes and drones sent missiles hurtling down on suspected weapons stores and rocket-launching sites."

""Israel and Hamas had largely observed an informal truce since Israel's devastating incursion into Gaza four years ago, but rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes on militant operations didn't halt entirely.

"Troops massing on the border.

 "At least 12 trucks were seen transporting tanks and armored personnel carriers toward Gaza late Thursday, and buses carrying soldiers headed toward the border area.

 "Israeli TV stations said a Gaza operation was expected on Friday, though military officials said no decision had been made.

""We will continue the attacks and we will increase the attacks, and I believe we will obtain our objectives," said Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Israel's military chief.

"An Israeli ground offensive could be costly to both sides. In the last Gaza war, Israel devastated large areas of the territory, setting back Hamas' fighting capabilities but also paying the price of increasing diplomatic isolation because of a civilian death toll numbering in the hundreds."

"

















"The assassination of Hamas mastermind Ahmed Jabari was followed by a wave of Israeli airs strikes on more than 100 militant targets [Thursday]..."

"US wants pressure put on Hamas to stop attacks.

"The United States has called on Egypt, Turkey and European powers to press Hamas to end bloodshed in Gaza, putting the onus on the Islamist movement to end rocket attacks on Israel.

"The White House on Thursday said it was in close contact with Israel about its military campaign into the Hamas-controlled territory, in a conflict that officials said has killed 16 Palestinians and three Israelis.

""We've also urged those who have a degree of influence with Hamas such as Turkey and Egypt and some of our European partners to use that influence to urge Hamas to de-escalate,'' deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said.

""Our concern is, obviously, that Israel must be secure from these types of attacks and that, also, as this situation continues to unfold, it's only going to pose a greater threat to civilians and risk continued conflict in the region.''

"The United States, Israel's closest ally, has backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's calls for Hamas to put an end to rocket attacks into Israel in response to the military campaign."


Finish Reading "Three Israelis killed as Hamas rockets rain down while 19 die in Gaza attacks," at news.com.au, by AP, News Limited Network, November 16, 2012, 5:59 PM. 

"The early Christian evangelist Paul wrote, “Doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?" Paul may never have seen Jesus in the flesh, but he would have known the popular hairdos of the time...

"The classic image of a bearded, long-haired Jesus emerged as the favorite in the sixth century... The New Testament offers virtually no physical description of [Jesus]...

"There are two possible explanations for why the bearded, long-haired Jesus eventually won out. Some think the depictions were based on the iconography of Roman gods...

"Art historian Herbert Kessler of Johns Hopkins offers a more specific explanation. Pagan gods who were associated with water, like Neptune, often had long-flowing hair that merged with the water itself in statues and paintings...

Read The Jesus Hairstyle, by Brian Palmer at Slate

(Photograph by iStockphoto)

Hello friends!

I was listening to one of my favorite presenters on a Bible teaching, the interviewer started asking some questions, and the interview started to take a completely different turn.  The off-topic subject turned to a discussion of King David. Where is be buried?  What was buried with him?

As everyone knows, David killed a giant named Goliath, and cut off his head with Goliath's own sword. He took the head and the giant's armor as trophies. This was when he was just a lad, not yet a king.  Later, as King, recieving tributes from lesser kings whom he had conquered, the armor and head may have been displayed in remembrance of King David's feat.  What happened to Goliath's head?  Where is his armor?  A fascinating subject and worth a bit more discussion!

The Traditional Location of King David's Tomb

"King David's Tomb is a site traditionally viewed as the burial place of David, King of Israel. It is located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, near the Hagia Maria Sion Abbey. The tomb is situated in a ground floor corner of the remains of the former Hagia Zion, a Byzantine church; the upper floor of the same building has traditionally been viewed as the Cenacle of Jesus...

"The contents of the sarcophagus have not yet been subjected to any scientific analysis, to determine their age, former appearance, or even whether there is actually still a corpse there.

"The authenticity of the site has been challenged on several grounds. According to the Bible, David was actually buried within the City of David together with his forefathers... by contrast, the 4th century Pilgrim of Bordeaux reports that he discovered David to be buried in Bethlehem, in a vault that also contained the tombs of Ezekiel, Jesse, Solomon, Job, and Asaph, with those names carved into the tomb walls... The genuine David's Tomb is unlikely to contain any furnishings of value; according to the first century writer Josephus, Herod the Great tried to loot the tomb of David, but discovered that someone else had already done so before him."

Read More at David's Tomb, Wikipedia

Ernest L Martin's Ideas on the Matter

"The location of the Tombs of King David and his family can be easily understood once the proper site of the Temples of God is taken into account. If the biblical and historical evidence is correctly understood (and I believe it is), then what those Tombs could contain would change the world and lead millions to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah, starting from Jerusalem...

"“Particularly notice that at the time of Nehemiah the  sepulchres of David (and many other early kings of Judah) were located at the  base of the stairs that went down into the Kedron Valley from the City of  David... They were positioned alongside a pool that was fed by the  waters of a conduit from the Gihon Spring...

"These sepulchres in Nehemiah’s time were positioned  not far south of the Gihon Spring over which the Temple then stood. In the  earlier period from David to Nehemiah it was common to place the tombs of  distinguished persons (especially kings) outside the Temple, but not far  away. They were certainly not buried far to the north near the Dome of the  Rock.

"Martin, Temples Jerusalem Forgot, p. 336"

Finish Reading (and find audio files) The Location and Future Discovery of King David's Tomb, by David Sielaff, October 2006

A Link to More David Sielaff Interviews at The Byte Show