Unequally yoked III
Dear Family,
I told you I could get a sequel out of this story and as you have been thinking on this subject I just bet you could produce a sequel of your own.
The Pagan Gods of Greece and Rome. Only a few of the ancient Greek and Roman gods are mentioned in the New Testament. Zeus <Acts 14:12-13; 19:35>; (Jupiter, KJV) was the supreme god of the ancient Greeks. According to Greek mythology, Zeus was the ruler of heaven and father of other gods and mortal heroes. He was identified by the Romans as Jupiter. Hermes <Acts 14:12>; (Mercurius, KJV; Mercury, NEB) was the Greek god of commerce, science, invention, and cunning. He also served as messenger and herald for the other gods. Hermes was identified by the Romans with Mercury, who was generally pictured with winged shoes and hat, carrying a winged staff. He was the protector of roads and boundaries and he guided departed souls to Hades.
When the apostle Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra, the people of that city declared, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!" They called Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker <Acts 14:11-12>.
Diana <Acts 19:24,27-28,34-35>, in Roman mythology, was the goddess of the moon, hunting, wild animals, and virginity. Diana is the same as the Greek goddess Artemis (RSV, NIV, NASB), virgin goddess of the hunt and the moon. When Paul preached in Ephesus, the Ephesians were in an uproar because the gospel threatened to destroy the profit of the artisans who crafted silver shrines of Diana.
The Twin Brothers <Acts 28:11>; (Castor and Pollux, KJV, NIV, NEB) is a translation of a Greek word which means "boys of Zeus." In Greek mythology, Castor and Pollux were the twin sons of Zeus. After Castor and Pollux died, they were transformed by Zeus into the constellation Gemini. They were regarded as the special protectors of distressed sailors. The Alexandrian ship in which Paul sailed from Malta to Puteoli had a carving of the Twin Brothers as its figurehead.
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament the people of God were surrounded by pagan gods. The apostle Paul declared to the philosophers of Athens, "I perceive that in all things you are very religious" <Acts 17:22>. In the city of Athens, idols of pagan gods stood on every street corner. The Athenians, perhaps fearing that they had slighted some deity, had even erected an altar "to the unknown god" <Acts 17:23>.
"The One whom you worship without knowing," said Paul, "Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands" <Acts 17:23-24>.
Only the sovereign Lord God has the power to rule the world; only the Lord Jesus Christ has the power to rise from the dead as the conqueror, establishing once and for all our everlasting life with Him.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)We cannot live our lives as the people of Athens did we cannot yoke Christianity and other religions together and expect that our live will be sweet and rosie. When God said "Ye shall have no other gods before me", I don't think he meant that we could have ten thousand beside or behind him. I honestly think he meant Him and Him alone.
What are the false gods we have today. Well there are a bunch.
Example. I ask God to help me with my finances and then I frivolously charge the max on all my credit card to satisfy my "I want it's". Is that trusting God to provide for our need and to give us the desire of our heart? I don't think so. If I cannot afford the health insurance premiums today yet I deplete my resources on them am I trusting god for my wellness. If I ask God to keep me healthy and then eat like a pig, smoke like a locomotive, worry about everything I come in contact with am I trusting him for my wellness? If I get sick can I say why did he do this to me?
We have more false gods today than the Athens people ever thought of. We have the credit card, the pill, the dollar and government just to name a few. The central most highly praised god is ourselves. It is just not logical to have faith in an invisible, intangible God when I have all these I can see touch and feel. We tend to trust all our false gods until we get into trouble and then want the true God to come to our rescue and when he does we give the credit to the god of ourselves.
I use front page to create web pages. Is it logical for me to pull up a template alter it and the blame it for not working properly. God has given us a template and an instruction book to go with it and we refuse to use either. Where is the logic?
I say this so often and it is though no one hears me. If God is really God and if He is what we say he is and able to do what we say he is able to do, then why do we have all these problems. It is pretty simple, we choose to trust everything else until all else fails before we look to him in desperation and then doubt that he will do what he has said.
I sometimes fear that those whom I talk to about my God of miracles will not believe me because they do not see the miracles he has done and does in my life. I know me and I have known me for 60+ years and I can tell you there are miracles he does in my life everyday that can be explained no other way than miraculous. He changes my life just a little each day into something more closely resembling what he designed me to be and that is miraculous. He permits me to see my children becoming mature responsible adults, parents and professionals with accomplishments far more than I could have dreamed possible. That is miraculous. I see people find comfort and encouragement in some God given thought I have put to print and that is miraculous. Even this writing is done on front page in a web site and that is really miraculous. Consider that I was raised on a share crop farm 2 mile north of Nugent Texas, in a house without running water, electricity or phone until I was 13 years old and now what I write is posted on the internet where the whole world can see them. Tell me that is not a miracle. You may not see these miracles but believe me they are there!
I'll just bet if you set down for a moment and carefully look back over your life you will be amazed if not shocked at the daily miracles in your life. Are you the luckiest one on earth or is this God of miracles I write about performing miracles in your life too?
I would love to read about your miracles so please jot them down and send them to me.
Love ya
Dad, Dad2, Mr T and Chuck
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