GOSPEL MEDITATION

John 6:22–34

“I Am the Bread of Life”, part 1

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.

1. Following the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, crowds gather about Jesus.
2. At first He could not be located, but the people spurred on by the report of a miracle, searched until they found him.
3. Someone in the crowd asked Jesus how he had gotten to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Apparently they did not know about the walking on the water.
4. Jesus immediately states that they were looking for Him, not that they saw ‘Messianic signs,’ but because they had eaten their fill.
5. Jesus now states the most important message they would ever hear. He tells them not to work for that which parishes but instead labor for that which yields eternal life.
6. It is not that Jesus does not care about the fundamentals of survival, but there is something of much greater value to receive.
7. Jesus is not afraid to disappoint hungry, poor, people. He knows certainly and for certain that before them all was life and death, both of an eternal duration. This shows the love of Jesus in action, risking rejection, maybe even anger.
8. The real work of God is to believe in the one God has sent, Jesus tells them. But the crowd wants proof that Jesus is that prophet Moses spoke of, the real and actual Messiah.
9. They want bread, like the manna Moses had given in the wilderness (see Exodus 16). Jesus then corrects His hearers and states it was God who gave the bread and not Moses.
10. The good reply is, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

GOSPEL MEDITATION

The Gospel of John–John 6:1–21

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand &Jesus Walks on Water

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.

1. Two “signs” now, both of which defy the laws of nature; multiplication of matter and suspension of the law of gravity.
2. The attempt of Jesus to retreat with His disciples is thwarted by thousands of people descending upon Him. The popular personage, John the Baptist, is dead and now people are looking to Jesus, the one John pointed to as the “Lamb of God.”
3. 5000 men eat of the barley loaves and fish, (plus women and children, Matthew states in 14:21), and all are satisfied. Afterward Jesus is careful to collect all food that was left over, 12 baskets full. (Would these baskets of food be given to families?)
4. When the people recognize the great miracle done before them, they attempt to seize Jesus and make him a king. Anyone now except a hated Roman and especially since John the Baptist is gone. But Jesus withdraws further up into the mountains.
5. The disciples come back down to the Sea of Tiberius, but Jesus does not come with them. The disciples start off in a fishing boat toward Capernaum about 5 miles away. Darkness is closing in on them.
6. That sea, becomes unruly and wild, which is well known then and now. Likely they are drawing near to their destination, maybe a bit more than half way there, when they spy Jesus walking toward them, on the water. The startled disciples bring Jesus on board.
7. Matthew’s Gospel, 14:22-33, tells us that Peter jumps into the sea and makes his way toward Jesus, but falters due to fear and begins to sink. Jesus “reached out his hand” and the two got into the boat. Jesus says to Peter, “O you of little faith.”

GOSPEL MEDITATION

The Gospel of John–John 6:1–21

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand &Jesus Walks on Water

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.

1. Two “signs” now, both of which defy the laws of nature; multiplication of matter and suspension of the law of gravity.
2. The attempt of Jesus to retreat with His disciples is thwarted by thousands of people descending upon Him. The popular personage, John the Baptist, is dead and now people are looking to Jesus, the one John pointed to as the “Lamb of God.”
3. 5000 men eat of the barley loaves and fish, (plus women and children, Matthew states in 14:21), and all are satisfied. Afterward Jesus is careful to collect all food that was left over, 12 baskets full. (Would these baskets of food be given to families?)
4. When the people recognize the great miracle done before them, they attempt to seize Jesus and make him a king. Anyone now except a hated Roman and especially since John the Baptist is gone. But Jesus withdraws further up into the mountains.
5. The disciples come back down to the Sea of Tiberius, but Jesus does not come with them. The disciples start off in a fishing boat toward Capernaum about 5 miles away. Darkness is closing in on them.
6. That sea, becomes unruly and wild, which is well known then and now. Likely they are drawing near to their destination, maybe a bit more than half way there, when they spy Jesus walking toward them, on the water. The startled disciples bring Jesus on board.
7. Matthew’s Gospel, 14:22-33, tells us that Peter jumps into the sea and makes his way toward Jesus, but falters due to fear and begins to sink. Jesus “reached out his hand” and the two got into the boat. Jesus says to Peter, “O you of little faith.”

The second edition of Islamic Studies is now available at Amazon.com. It is expanded 60% over the original edition. It is everything one would need to know about Islam. Below is the Table of Contents.To find it at Amazon type in, Kent Philpott Islamic Studies. The price is $27.00, wish it were lower but…

Please help me by promoting the book. If you get it at Amazon please write a review. And please consider sending it out to others.

Contents

Preface vi

Introduction 1

Islamic Studies Outline 3

A Summary of Understanding Islamic Theology 28

Sharia Law: An Introduction 69

Sharia Law: A Summary for Sunni Islam 71

Sharia Law: A Summary for Shia Islam 97

Ultimate Intentions of Islam 115

A Summary of The Exorcist Tradition in Islam 117

Commentary on the books by Ayaan Hirsi Ali 127

Commentary on No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan 143

A Response to the Call for Reform by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Reza Aslan 156

Basic Details of the Qur’anic Chapters 158

A Short Biography of Muhammad’s Life 162

The Crescent and Star Symbol 164

The Sira: The Biography of Muhammad 166

The Miracles of Muhammad and Jesus: A Comparison 170

Essays on Islam 176

A Follower of Muhammad? A Follower of Jesus? 178

Were the Crusaders and Inquisitors Christians? 180

Looking at Muslims 187

A Fundamental Error of Islam 189

The Weakness of Islam 191

Islam’s Cultic Connection 193

My First Essay on Islam 200

Shame versus Guilt 203

Abrogation or Progressive Revelation? 207

Eid Al-Adha: Who Has it Right? 213

The Making of an Extremist 217

But . . . It Is Warfare! 222

Who Is Gabriel? 225

Debating with Muslims 236

Was Jesus Crucified? 251

Answering A. Deedat’s Combat Kit Against Bible Thumpers 261

Islamic Hygiene 289

Christian Hygiene? 294

Names Given to Muhammad in the Qur’an and Hadith 296

Twenty-Five Ways 298

Significant Muslim Populations 301

Three Religious Movements Associated with Islam 305

Ministries to Muslims 313

Glossary: Terms Related to Islam 315

Annotated Bibliography 344

Index 353

GOSPEL MEDITATION

The Gospel of John–John 5:30–47

Witnesses to Jesus

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.

1. Following Jesus’ statement concerning His authority especially regarding His authority to judge, is a presentation of the witnesses that establish the truth of His claim.
2. This witness is essential to meet the requirements of the Law of Moses as seen in Deuteronomy 19:15, the necessity of their being two or three witnesses.
3. Jesus proceeds to explain His Father bore witness at His baptism when a heavenly voice declared, “You are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased.” (see Mark 1:11)
4. Also John the Baptist bore witness when he declared as he saw Jesus coming to be baptized: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (see John 1:29)
5. A third witness is the miraculous signs Jesus does. Well known to the religious leaders is the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda. And there would be more, with the feeding of 5000 coming up and then finally, the resurrection of Lazarus.
6. A fourth witness is the Scripture itself. Jesus refers to Moses, but likely includes the entirety of the Hebrew Bible, which includes the many prophecies of the Messiah in the Prophets, but also passages from the Psalms like Psalm 22. How is it, Jesus asserts, that if the religious leaders reject that witness, how will they believe in Him at all?

John 5:18-29

Jesus is Equal with God & The Authority of the Son

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.

1. It is one thing to be a Sabbath breaker, it is quite another to claim equality with God. Indeed, the religious authorities understand what Jesus meant when He said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17).
2. Jesus proceeds to explain what He meant as John recorded in verses 19 to 29.
3. In statement after statement Jesus affirms that the God of Israel in His Father. You can imagine what might be going through the hearts and minds of those who are hearing Him.
4. Indeed, the Son does what the Father does. We might understand this to mean that Jesus reveals both who the Father is and what the Father does.
5. Jesus brings up the issue of judgment and states that the Father commits all judgment to the Son, meaning Himself.
6. And even more, those who honor the Son are also honoring the Father. The religious authorities could not help but be upset and angry.
7. There is yet more; Jesus asserts that those who both believe in Him and He who sent Him, meaning the Father, has eternal life. This person does not experience judgement but passes from death to life.
8. Jesus now speaks more of the coming judgment. The dead will actually hear His voice and will live, have eternal life. The Son has life in Himself as only God has.
9. Jesus Himself is the one who will judge and the result will be either the resurrection to life or the resurrection to judgment.

Hello Everyone, below are the links to our four television channels.

If you like them, or maybe on of them, please send on to others who might find some value in them/

Why We Are Christians

Kent Philpott’s own channel with The Bible Study

The Imam and The Pastor

The Rabbi and The Pastor

John 5:1–17

The Healing at the Pool on a Sabbath

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture.
6. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.
7. This pool, called Bethesda, meaning “house of mercy” had 5 covered porches, the remains of which are still to be seen in Jerusalem, beneath a 5^th century basilica.
8. On a Sabbath day, a Saturday, during one of the feasts of Israel, Jesus approaches a man who had been disabled for 38 years. He was present at the pool hoping for a healing, and likely begging as well.
9. Jesus initiates the encounter. He asks the man if he wanted to be healed. The man replies that he had no one to help get into the pool when the water was stirred up. (Omitted from modern editions of this passage is a fable about an angel stirring the waters and if entered then, healings took place.)
10. Jesus tells the man to take up his bed and walk. He does so, and Jesus slips back into the crowd of people present.
11. Religious authorities spy the now healed man carrying his bed and accost him, warning him that by carrying his bed he is breaking the Sabbath law against work of any kind.
12. The man reports he does not know who it was who healed him. Later Jesus finds the man at the temple and tells him to sin no longer, which either means some sin had caused the illness or that he was still then deep into sin.
13. The healed man goes immediately to the religious authorities and tells them the healer is Jesus. John then tells us that the healing on a Sabbath day was used to launch a persecution against Jesus. And to His accusers, Jesus speaks of God as His Father, thus making Him equal with God.

The Gospel of John 

John 4:27-45

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria, part 2

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture.
6. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.
7. The disciples are surprised to see Jesus speaking with a woman. This Samaritan then returns to her home and invites all to come with her and see a man who told her “all that she ever did.” She wonders if this could be the Christ.
8. The disciples urge Jesus to eat only to hear Him say He has food to eat that they are not aware of.
9. This “food,” they are told, is His doing the will of the one who sent Him, which is the “work” of bringing in a harvest.
10. Indeed a harvest has begun among the Samaritans, starting with the woman and now more are on their way after they heard the woman’s testimony.
11. There are sowers, and there are reapers. There had been sowers previously, apparently the words of the prophets as recorded in the Hebrew Bible. The sower and the reaper rejoice together.
12. The reward of the “labor” of sower and reaper, their “wages,” is the actual gathering of the fruit—seeing people being drawn to the Messiah.
13. John then reports that many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus, and not because of the woman’s testimony but by means of the words of Jesus Himself.
14. These new believers suddenly recognize that Jesus is truly the Savior of the world, something that only the Holy Spirit can reveal.

SOUL CONFUSION

Larry King Live on 16 March 1999 featured five panelists: Robert Thurman, professor of Buddhism Studies at Columbia University; Marianne Williamson, New Age author and spokesperson for the spiritistically channeled Course in Miracles; Rabbi David Aaron, expert on and proponent of Kabbalism, an occult/mystical/gnostic interpretation of Judaism; Deepak Chopra, charismatic spokesperson for a popular version of Hindu monistic thought; and Franklin Graham, head of Samaritans Purse, a Christian humanitarian organization and son of Billy Graham, the renowned American evangelist.

What is the soul?

Though these five differed on many points, they seemed to be able to reach a consensus when it came to an understanding of “soul”. In fact, Deepak Chopra voiced agreement with Graham’s understanding of the soul. We have long heard Billy Graham say words like the following; “You have a soul and it will go to heaven or hell when you die”. According to this idea, the soul is a mysterious, spiritual and immortal part of the human being that leaves the cold, dead body at death. Those on Larry King’s program who believed in some form of reincarnation, were able to agree together about the soul though, from their own traditions, they might have used other symbols to express the same thing. Due to a revival of Greek philosophy in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries AD, Greek dualism infiltrated the Christian church mainly through the work of Thomas Aquinas and his Summa Theologica, which became the fountainhead of Catholic theology throughout the Dark Ages. Greek dualistic thought posits the theory that the mind, spirit and soul are good, even divine, while on the other hand, the body, flesh and matter are bad, the depository of evil. So it was the soul that mattered, the soul that needed saving; the body was simply a temporary prison for the soul.

Soul and self

Confusion concerning the nature of the soul has a powerful influence among the people of Mill Valley where I minister at the Miller Avenue Baptist Church. Though the doctrine is not biblical, and is absent from the teaching of the early church, the idea that the soul is the focus of evangelistic efforts persists in many Christian traditions. Franklin Graham was concerned about the “soul”. He should have been concerned about the whole person, body, mind, soul and spirit. So many in my community believe in reincarnation, that Graham’s doctrine on the soul would not be troublesome for them. The soul? Well, they say, it needs purifying and experiences endless lifetimes anyway. These people do not like to think that they will be resurrected to stand before the judgment of God. “My soul” is one thing; “myself” is another.

Total resurrection

The biblical doctrine is one of bodily resurrection, not the floating away of an immortal soul. We are whole, integrated beings, though the Bible writers spoke variously of mind, heart, body, flesh, spirit and soul for the sake of emphasis. A person is all of these and more, a whole being responsible to God in the totality and indivisibility of his nature. What we are in total will be raised from the dead, either to eternal life or eternal death. We do not have immortality in and of ourselves. The truth of it is found in 1 Corinthians 15:53: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality”.

“Soul confusion” must be countered by the truth of the resurrection, even if it means parting from long established ways of thinking and preaching. Let us not give the unconverted comfort by implying that they only have some ethereal “soul” to be concerned about. They themselves may hear Jesus say, “I never knew YOU; depart from me, YE that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).

Kent Philpott

SOUL CONFUSION

Larry King Live on 16 March 1999 featured five panelists: Robert Thurman, professor of Buddhism Studies at Columbia University; Marianne Williamson, New Age author and spokesperson for the spiritistically channeled Course in Miracles; Rabbi David Aaron, expert on and proponent of Kabbalism, an occult/mystical/gnostic interpretation of Judaism; Deepak Chopra, charismatic spokesperson for a popular version of Hindu monistic thought; and Franklin Graham, head of Samaritans Purse, a Christian humanitarian organization and son of Billy Graham, the renowned American evangelist.

What is the soul?

Though these five differed on many points, they seemed to be able to reach a consensus when it came to an understanding of “soul”. In fact, Deepak Chopra voiced agreement with Graham’s understanding of the soul. We have long heard Billy Graham say words like the following; “You have a soul and it will go to heaven or hell when you die”. According to this idea, the soul is a mysterious, spiritual and immortal part of the human being that leaves the cold, dead body at death. Those on Larry King’s program who believed in some form of reincarnation, were able to agree together about the soul though, from their own traditions, they might have used other symbols to express the same thing. Due to a revival of Greek philosophy in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries AD, Greek dualism infiltrated the Christian church mainly through the work of Thomas Aquinas and his Summa Theologica, which became the fountainhead of Catholic theology throughout the Dark Ages. Greek dualistic thought posits the theory that the mind, spirit and soul are good, even divine, while on the other hand, the body, flesh and matter are bad, the depository of evil. So it was the soul that mattered, the soul that needed saving; the body was simply a temporary prison for the soul.

Soul and self

Confusion concerning the nature of the soul has a powerful influence among the people of Mill Valley where I minister at the Miller Avenue Baptist Church. Though the doctrine is not biblical, and is absent from the teaching of the early church, the idea that the soul is the focus of evangelistic efforts persists in many Christian traditions. Franklin Graham was concerned about the “soul”. He should have been concerned about the whole person, body, mind, soul and spirit. So many in my community believe in reincarnation, that Graham’s doctrine on the soul would not be troublesome for them. The soul? Well, they say, it needs purifying and experiences endless lifetimes anyway. These people do not like to think that they will be resurrected to stand before the judgment of God. “My soul” is one thing; “myself” is another.

Total resurrection

The biblical doctrine is one of bodily resurrection, not the floating away of an immortal soul. We are whole, integrated beings, though the Bible writers spoke variously of mind, heart, body, flesh, spirit and soul for the sake of emphasis. A person is all of these and more, a whole being responsible to God in the totality and indivisibility of his nature. What we are in total will be raised from the dead, either to eternal life or eternal death. We do not have immortality in and of ourselves. The truth of it is found in 1 Corinthians 15:53: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality”.

“Soul confusion” must be countered by the truth of the resurrection, even if it means parting from long established ways of thinking and preaching. Let us not give the unconverted comfort by implying that they only have some ethereal “soul” to be concerned about. They themselves may hear Jesus say, “I never knew YOU; depart from me, YE that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).

Kent Philpott