The Word for today
“The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35 NLT).
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Bringing the skies down to us
Bro. Clinton Willis is co-pastor of the Word of Life UPCI church in Lamar, MO. He is also an astrophotographer who loves panning the heavens and enjoying the beauty that God has displayed there. He sent me some pictures he had made with his far-reaching telescope, two of which I have included below. We thank him for sharing them with us.
The cratered moon. You can almost see the American flag still standing there. Thank God our atmosphere consumes most space rocks before they strike the earth!
This is the Orion constellation, a prominent set of stars in the winter in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is said to outline a hunter.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1).
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What about that “private interpretation” verse?
I was recently discussing the Bible with a non-Apostolic minister. When the subject touched on the lifestyle of Christians and the verses that address that topic, he brought up that old standby verse that many call on to say that their interpretation of Scripture is as good as anyone else’s: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (II Peter 1:20 KJV). The way that verse was rendered gave rise to both Protestant and Catholic position in the late Middle Ages.
A basic element of the Protestant Reformation was the principle of “private interpretation.” Both Catholics and Protestants called upon this verse to support their view of Scripture interpretation. However, this was not aimed, as the Catholics suggested, at individual church members making personal application of the passage and its principles. They wanted the priestly class alone to make interpretation of Scripture and its application, not laymen—“We will tell you what it means…and you can depend on us.” This helped solidify their power and authority. Neither is it a proof-text against the denial of individual church members reading and interpreting the Word for themselves without clerical direction—a popular Protestant position.
However, the passage was not levelled at the private judgment of the readers as to how any particular Bible admonition or verse should be lived out. Peter is saying that the prophets were not bringing forth information for the present and the future from their own body of knowledge and understanding. That is what is meant here by “private”—their personal knowledge. Their message was not run through the colander of their personal understanding or experience. They were providing the words—the Lord provided the inspiration and would unfold the meaning and application in the right time and place.
The NET Bible renders the verse thusly: “Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination.”
Perhaps the NLT version expresses it best in context: “Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding or from human initiative [invention]. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God” (brackets mine].
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Words wrapped in wisdom
“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.” – Winston Churchill
“You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too.” – Denzel Washington
“The two most important days in your life are the day you’re born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain
[Certainly, Mark, you always gave us food for thought. Let’s add that the two most important decisions one makes in life is 1) the decision to be saved and live for God, and 2) the person you decide to marry and spend the rest of your life with.]
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room.” – Dalai Lama
“Fear is the most contagious disease you can imagine. It makes the virus look like a piker.” – Warren Buffett
“A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good just because it is accepted by a majority.” – Booker T. Washington
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Foiled again
I recently ran across Sir John Cheke’s 1550 translation of the Book of Matthew and part of Mark. Cheke (1514-1557) was the first Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge, playing a great part in the revival of Greek learning in England.
The English language of that day was fascinating, and perhaps a mite frustrating. He used many unusual abbreviations that evoke a little stutter step in the reading. If you are interested, check out the archived copy here: https://archive.org/details/MN40275ucmf_7/page/n114/mode/1up
One of the most engaging aspects of the translation was that it lacked the last few verses of Matthew 28. Surprise, surprise. He explained that his exemplar didn’t have those verses. I was excited about finding the translation in hopes it might lead to an early manuscript source. As you know, mysteriously, all pre-A.D. 325 Greek MSS of Matthew are missing 28:19, either purposely torn away or damaged in some way that removed it.
So we are still looking for the original biblical source of the phrase in v. 19 that says, “of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” If anyone out there runs across a pre-325 Greek manuscript of Matthew with 28:19 in it, please inform me.
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The new religion of “climate crisis”
The new high priests of climate change, now including pope Francis, and self-proclaimed “scientists” are positioned at the same rank as those who declared that wearing from one to three face masks would curb the spread of Covid-19. What curbed the spread of that virus was uncovering the truth about it and telling the faux scientists and sold-out doctors to take a long walk off of a short pier. Isn’t it amazing how the flu during the last season was hardly mentioned and anyone who came to the ER or visited a doctor about “not feeling too well” was diagnosed with Covid so they could tap the government purse for that particular “pandemic”? Sure, people got sick of what they dubbed Covid and many died. But when the proper medicines and treatments are denied to those with flu-like symptoms, that can happen. Millions worldwide discovered the hard way that is exactly what happened. Big pharma got fat and sinecure during the virus era.
Now we are confronted daily with the news that the world is collapsing from “climate change.” Pul-eezzze! Who is buying this propaganda except those of us who live 
in the U.S. and Europe? The most populous nations of the world are largely ignoring Greta Thunberg and those of her ilk, continuing to be the major polluters of the world. India and China are paying little attention to the climate criers. China is building coal plants faster than Usain Bolt can run. They are spewing pollution in far greater amounts than the U.S. So why doesn’t Greta go to those countries and stop traffic there with her signs? Because that is not where she wants change…it’s here in the West! Remember, it’s really not climate change they are after, it is political change in the U.S. and the West.
Let’s help quell this fear-mongering that the world will end in the next puff of smoke or an unheard bit of flatulence from a cat’s behind. The world has been hit by huge meteors that blacked out the sun in many countries for long periods and still survived. God’s not through with earth yet. When He gets through managing “seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter” (Genesis 8:22), then march with signs and stop the traffic. Until then people have enough to worry about besides the leftist political narrative regarding climate change. Da nobis intermissum!
Want more info on the climate change hype? Check this out: Experts Speak: There is No “Climate Crisis” (substack).
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Idolatry in our schools
A former Christian student at a Chicago public school won a $150K lawsuit after she alleged that while on campus she was forced into participating in Hindu rituals.
“I’m a very strong Christian,” Mariyah Green said in an interview with Fox News Digital. She said a woman who was teaching meditation in mandated “Quiet Time” 
asked her to bow to an image of a foreign deity she did not recognize. The woman teaching the meditation said it would help her internalize the mantras and bring her to “Zen.” Green believes that she was being forced into idol worship.
Have you checked on the schools in your area that might be offering “meditation” classes? They might be teaching the kids in your community a mantra that involves false gods. Are you aware of Yoga classes being offered to your students or church members? Staying informed is part of our parental responsibility.
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Views from the news:
Where men are on Christmas Eve:
Shop if you must, but don’t forget Christmas For Christ! Missionaries in N. America are depending on you!
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Last Words
• I wonder…if the attacks by the pro-Hamas protestors on the nation’s capitol a couple of weeks ago, injuring several police, will be called an “insurrection” by the media? Nah, they were just peacefully demonstrating for a good cause. Already we are seeing that they will not be accused as were conservatives on January 6. Truth, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder.
• I am limiting my visits to Fox News online. Inching left, Fox continues to put material on their news pages that feature near pornographic photos that they assume will serve as click bait. They advertise sleazy materials and pitiful personalities, publicizing sites, events, and places to indulge every sin and licentious desire. There is no cause for this other than to make money by publishing the pics and ads that appeal only to prurient interests. Does Fox really need that extra income, or would the space be better utilized to promote a more informed and patriotic generation of drug-free youth? When money means more than morality, it is time to reevaluate your time spent on their “news” site. I have switched to check the Newsmax pages and one or two others at times on my computer. While one cannot escape all of it, I tire of the promotion of new ways and places to sin publicized on a news site. Anyone else feel the way I do?
• How can leftist ideals and socialism be gaining so many adherents? Because they are not passive. They are active. They are not afraid of offending the sensibilities of anyone. Too many Christians are passive about their faith. Don’t call sin, sin. Don’t identify Islam as an idolatrous religion that propagates hate and violence. Say “God is in control” so why worry about it?” Stay home and don’t vote. Who will stand up and be counted for God and truth and America? Somebody say “ME!”
• Don’t let Christmas die in Walmart or the mall. Make sure it is alive in your heart and your home. Have a wonder-filled season! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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