ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
I see what you did there...complain about the New NIV and slowly work the abusive sects into Calvinism and marketing.
No matter how many times I try, the frog keeps jumping out.
Just imagine the graphics that could go with this. Yes! I love to watch the Andy Griffith Show.
The New King James, NIV, ESV, RSV are "Barney Fife Bibles"...going off when least expected, shooting us not just in the foot but in the heart of the gospel and true doctrine. They destroy and undermine true faith and doctrine. They destroy Holy Communion turning Christ's Last Will and Testament into a Calvinist covenant. I have used my King James Bible for 52 years. The true Word of God lives forever here in this Bible so I beg you to use it and insist your pastor use it in church too.
Hallowed be Thy name Heavenly Father I earnestly pray,
Charlton Heston, In the Arena: An Autobiography, pp. 554-555
“The authors of several boring translations that have followed over the last fifty years mumble that the KJV is "difficult" filled with long words. Have a look at the difficult long words that begin the Old Testament, and end the Gospels: 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; darkness was upon the face of the deep.' and 'Now, of the other things which Jesus did, if they should be written every one, I suppose the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.'
Shakespeare aside, there's no comparable writing in the language, as has been observed by wiser men than I.
Over the past several centuries it's been the single book in most households, an enormous force in shaping the development of the English language. Carried around the world by missionaries, it provided the base by which English is about to become the lingua franca of the world in the next century. Exploring it during this shoot [Ten Commandments] was one of the most rewarding creative experiences of my life."
My generation loved the Classics Illustrated, comics giving the basics for the great literature and popular literature of the past.
A Lutheran Family Robinson is living in a beautiful location for observing Creation. Like many, they are fashioning a home for bees, which means a source of pure honey and beeswax.
I decided to add my earthy advice on how to keep the bees happy and well fed.
I belong to that class of gardeners who start ordering any plant called a pollinator. That designates a plant that will attract and feed bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. If anyone doubts the Creation of the universe by the Word of God - the Logos - then spend some time sitting on the ground with the pollinators and their associates, since each one needs the others. I never get stung.
Seldom do the scientists acknowledge that the class of living things had to be created within a short period of time, or the eaters and eaten would have died immediately. The greatest rose - Queen Elizabeth - came from a Creationist. The most obnoxious weed - the blackberry - was promoted by an atheist horticulturalist.
Bee Balm - in Gilead
Bee Balm is my all-around favorite because of its prodigious blooms and slow expansion of its territory. I dug a clump up for the Butterfly Garden and now enjoy seeing a large patch of flowers there, a good source for more islands of Bee Balm elsewhere.
Bee Balm grows down near the sidewalk and also close to the front, shaded patio. Some are light blue while the newest are scarlet. People debate whether the color red matters to hummingbirds, but I have seen them darting from one red blossom to the next.
We watch the bees and hummers while we are drinking coffee. One carefully works over each blossom. Hummers sip from the three (3) feeders and fight over territory.
photo credit: Peter aka anemoneprojectors via photopinccBorage is not only a honey plant, but also one of the most famous ancient spices and a valuable herb. It is traditionally cultivated as a vegetable type and spice, but it is also gwon for pharmaceutical purposes, because of the oil extracted from its seeds, which is often called “star flower oil” or “borage oil”.
If we can believe the descriptions of Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder, borage was probably the magical plant used to make a drink of oblivion mentioned in the Homer’s “Odyssey”. The truth is that this plant were used in different ways known from ancient times.
Borage – how is it grown?
Borage is an annual plant with branching stem that usually reaches a height of about 25 inches that is believed to originate from Syria. Now it is grown literally everywhere, and only in North America it takes an overall area of 20,000 acres.
Centuries ago, the Europeans used to make some tea form the leaves of the plant by soaking them in wine. In 1597 a herbalist named John Gerard pointed out several advantages of the herb and even said that the syrup made from the flowers of borage helps healing depression. Nowadays borage is being sown in order to attract bees, which makes it a valuable honey plant.
Borage is a tiny plant, though I have some larger ones from an Amazon order. This little herb is easily sown with abandon, where it will bloom, drop seed, and draw the bees into its tiny flowers, which are pink and blue (no, not gender related, just cute).
Borage does not take over the garden and adds to the overall population of beneficial insects which live by eating pests or leaving their eggs near pests. The little ones hatch and eat the destructive pests.
Borage is easy to grow and inexpensive.
https://www.kiwimana.co.nz/borage-good-for-bees/
Clethra - Summer Sweet or Sweet Spice
This shrub costs about $20 and grows slowly. How do I rate it? I bought two and they slowly grew, now about 7 feet tall. I bought four more, and one was eaten by a quadruped, devoured. However, the other three were protected by a plastic collar and are flowering today. I only had a total five for the front garden, so I planted four more in the back garden. They are now blooming - tiny but working their way up as pollinators.
Clethra attracts butterflies, as well as many kinds of bees, and hummingbirds. The shrubs have a Cinnabon sweet smell of cinnamon and thrive in the sunlight. I enjoy the way they give off their fragrance the rest of the summer. No one is looking on the porch or driveway and suddenly - "What is that wonderful aroma?"
Clethra are slow to grow when ordered through the mail, but they are long-lasting and pest-free - as long as they can get rooted in the early weeks.
Mountain Mint Finally Fulfilled My Hopes
Mountain Mint was buried under mulch and cardboard - by mistake. We could not find them. The first two tiny plants soon burst through the Stygian darkness of their burial and grew rapidly. I was disappointed that they did not create the flying frenzy of insects I observed at the Washington DC gardens.
But lo, this year has produced two shoulder-high crops where the space above the mint is crazy with butterflies and bees of all types, in constant motion.
Joe Pye Weed and Little Joe Pye
Joe Pye Weed was used by Joe Pye as a medicine - so they say - and is now enjoyed by butterfly and bee enthusiasts. Little Joe Pye is a short version with the same profile and flowers.
Joe Pye enjoys the same energy as Mountain Mint - its bees and butterflies abuzz like satellites trapped in the gravitational pull of earth. The leaves have a strong musk aroma joined by the vanilla scent of the flowers. The large version is a true bully plant, spreading out and up to gain all the solar energy. However, the stalks can be trimmed back for better views of the roses and other garden plants.
Yesterday we were enjoying the Hummingbirds at the feeders, sipping and chasing each other away. Our best view was blocked by Joe Pye stalks, so I cut enough away individual stalks to offer a complete view of the feeding.
NKJV changes Christ's last will and testament in Holy communion into a Calvinistic covenant.
NKJV teaches false doctrine, corrupts the true Word of God and is fraudulent in many places especially the words of institution. KJV says testament. Luther's Bible says testament. The Greek Textus Receptus says testament. Even the corrupt and fraudulent Nestle Aland says testament.
“For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well from whatever disease he had” (John 5:4).
A friend sent me Dr. Michael Heiser’s LogosTalk article “Who Took John 5:4 Out of My Bible?” You can read it here. According to Heiser, no one took it out. It was never in the Bible in the first place.
Here is the evidence Heiser cites that John 5:4 should not be in our Bibles:
It “is not found in any of the earliest and most accurate manuscripts of the Gospel of John.”
“In roughly two dozen manuscripts scribes put asterisk marks at the verse to warn the next scribe who would copy the manuscript that the verse was likely not original.”
“Four of the last five Greek words of what would be John 5:4 aren’t found anywhere else in John’s writings.”
As someone who believes the Majority Text is the correct text, I’d like to briefly explain why I think that the evidence strongly favors inclusion, not exclusion.
Let me begin by saying that Heiser is expressing the view of most New Testament scholars today. In fact, Metzger’s Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament says that the omission of John 5:4 is certain. That is, the committee gave omission an “A” rating, which “signifies that the text is certain” (p. 14*). For that reason, I am responding. I have nothing against Dr. Heiser. Indeed, I do not know him. And I’m glad he wrote this article since it gives us all a chance to consider the issue, which I believe is important.
First, the argument that “the earliest and most accurate manuscripts” surely contain the correct readings is weak. Over 3,000 times the three so-called earliest and best manuscripts, aleph, A, and B, disagree with each other.
That is actually the case in John 5:4. Manuscript A includes this verse. Aleph and B do not include.
Second, only eight manuscripts omit (aleph, B, C corrected, D, W, 1025, 0141, 33). But there are hundreds of manuscripts which include John 5:4. The external evidence strongly supports inclusion.
Third, the argument on word usage is weak. The last five words in the Majority Text of John 5:4 are egineto hō dēpote kateicheto nosēmati. Of those words, only the last three are rare in John’s writings. Two of those words, dēpote and nosēmati, only occurs here (= hapax legomena) in the entire New Testament. However, there are about 700 hapax legomena in the New Testament. We cannot exclude verses because they contain one or more hapaxes.
The second to last word, kateicheto, only appears here in John. Ah, but it only appears once in Acts too. But no one suggests Acts 27:40 should be omitted.
Consider the opening line in Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. The words [it was] thebest of times, the worst of times, the age of wisdom, and the age of foolishness are not found again in the book. But no one suggests they should be omitted.
Fourth, as Heiser points out, the notion of the stirring of the water is found in John 5:7, “I have no man to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up…” The fact it is found in verse 7 lends support for verse 4 being original. Indeed, if verse 4 is not original, then verse 7 doesn’t make much sense. From an internal evidence standpoint, inclusion is strongly suggested.
Finally, I much agree with Heiser’s third application, “we need to be sure the content of our preaching and teaching has a secure footing in the text. God moved people to spend their lives transmitting the biblical text; the least we can do is pay close attention.” That statement is not dependent on the Critical Text. Whatever words are original, those we should accept and teach.
John 5:4 is in my Bible. If it isn’t in yours, then you should do as Heiser says in his second application: “it pays to compare Bible versions.” Amen.
Bob Wilkin (ThM, PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is the Founder and Executive Director of Grace Evangelical Society and co-host of Grace in Focus Radio. He lives in Highland Village, TX with his wife, Sharon. His latest books are Faith Alone in One Hundred Verses and Turn and Live: The Power of Repentance.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first stepped in, after the troubling of the water, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
for an angel of the Lord went down into the pool at appointed seasons and stirred up the water; the first one to go in after the water was stirred was healed of his disease.]
For an angel of the Lord went down at appointed seasons into the pool and moved and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was cured of whatever disease with which he was afflicted.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
For an angel descended at a certain season in the pool and troubled the water. Whoever therefore first went in after the troubling of the water became well, whatever disease he laboured under.]
And an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water, was made whole, of whatsoever infirmity he lay under.
For an angel would go down at certain times into the pool and stir up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.
·Sometimes [At a certain time; From time to time] an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had|.
For an Angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first, after the stirring of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had].
Sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had].
At certain times an angel of the Lord would go down into the pool and stir up the water, and whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.
Some time later came one of the Jewish feast-days and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. There is in Jerusalem near the sheep-gate a pool surrounded by five arches, which has the Hebrew name of Bethzatha (the Pool of Bethesda). Under these arches a great many sick people were in the habit of lying; some of them were blind, some lame, and some had withered limbs. (They used to wait there for the “moving of the water”, for at certain times an angel used to come down into the pool and disturb the water, and then the first person who stepped into the water after the disturbance would be healed of whatever he was suffering from.) One particular man had been there ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there on his back—knowing that he had been like that for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well again?”
For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and troubled the water; whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatever disease he had.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”
For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water. After the stirring of the water, whoever stepped in first was healed of whatever disease he had.
for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]
For occasionally an angel of the Lord would come down into the pool and stir up the water. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.]
Sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had].
Here a great number of disabled people used to lie down. Among them were those who were blind, those who could not walk, and those who could hardly move.
For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.
(*An angel of the Lord came at certain times and made the water move. All of them were waiting for it to move. Whoever got in the water first after it was moving was healed of whatever sickness he had.)
For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever then first after the stirring of the water stepped in, was made whole of whatever disease he had.
[For a malach Hashem from time to time descended into the berekhah (pool) and agitated the mayim; therefore, he who entered first after the agitation of the mayim, became whole, whatever choli (disease, sickness) he was held by.]
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and stirred the water. Whoever then first stepped in, after the stirring of the water, was made whole of whatever disease he had.
From time to time, a heavenly messenger would come to stir the water in the pool. Whoever reached the water first and got in after it was agitated would be healed of his or her disease].
for an angel went down at certain times into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.
An angel came down into the water at a certain time and made it move. The first person who stepped into the water when it moved was healed of any sickness that he had.
For the angel of the Lord came down certain times into the [standing] water, and the water was moved; and he that first came down into the cistern, after the moving of the water, was made whole of whatever sickness he was held [was made whole of whatever sickness he was holden with].
for a messenger at a set time was going down in the pool, and was troubling the water, the first then having gone in after the troubling of the water, became whole of whatever sickness he was held.
