Guitar Jim

Q4. (John 5:36-37) According to John’s Gospel, what is the value of miracles? Miracles confirmed that Jesus was sent by God. His miracles were a convincing sign, to the ordinary people at least, that Jesus was the Messiah. What is the weakness of faith that depends solely on miracles? A time will come when those who depend on seeing the miraculous will become blase about it and take it for granted. We should never regard the things of the Lord as commonplace. Also, I think we all know people who answer every altar call and come forward to get a "touch from the Lord" every week at Church. They're living from one spiritual high to the next, like junkies. Why do you think that we don’t have more miracles in our day? That could be down to the commonly held belief that miracles were for the early Church and have passed into history and that the only gifts of the Spirit that remain are: Faith Hope and Love. How much is that dependent upon a congregation’s attitude (and unbelief) towards the importance of modern-day miracles? It's completely dependent on that. If folks lack the faith to believe that miracles can happen, then they won't happen. The more conservative and reformed churches are openly hostile to anyone who exhibits extraordinary Spiritual gifts. That's understandable to an extent. Some full Gospel churches become a circus every week with everyone babbling in tougues simultaneously and no seeming order or control coming from the pastor. I've seen that first-hand. I've also seen churches where there is a set time for a word of prophecy etc that is ordered and under the control of the pastor, as we're told to do things in the Bible. People being people, the reformed and conservative churches over-react to the more unstable type of church services by forbidding it altogether. They're throwing the baby out with the bath water in my opinion.

Q3. (John 5:30) Why is Jesus so dependent upon the Father for wisdom? While on Earth, Jesus depended on His Father for everything. They were in constant communication. Jesus prayed for hours every day, even if that meant getting up before dawn to do so. The Holy Spirit so filled Jesus that He had the Father's wisdom in full measure. Jesus had a mission to complete while He was on Earth and only by completely surrendering to and relying on the Father's wisdom and guidance could he accompish it. How dependent are you upon your culture to approve of your way of life and validate your wisdom? I like to think that I am not so dependent on the approval of others in my culture to validate any wisdom I may have. I know that anything I know that is true and correct and right in God's eyes is working in my life for my benefit and all the nay sayers around me who think differently to me don't matter to my own way of looking at life. I don't have the boundless faith that some seem to have, but I know whom I have believed. To what degree do you depend upon God for wisdom? That depends on whatever topic is before me. Real wisdom and discernment is from God and the wisest person . . in the world's eyes . . WILL be made to look inadequate when he/she speaks against the truths of God. I hold up everything to the light of the truths found in the Bible. Science, philosophy, everything. If it doesn't agree with what God has said, then it isn't true.

Q2. (John 5:21-24) According to John 5:24, when does eternal life begin? When we hear the word (the Gospel of Christ) and believe in our hearts that God the Father sent Jesus to die on our behalf, our eternal life begins. What is our default position without Christ – life or death? Death. No one comes to the Father but through Jesus. How can people come to eternal life if they never “hear my word”? The Bible is clear on the fact that once someone hears about Jesus and doesn't accept Him for who He is . . the Son of God who came into the world to save us from sin . . they are condemned. So what about the millions of people who've never heard of Jesus, people in other cultures or primitive people who have never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel? The Bible says they will be judged on how they've lived their lives. Even people who have never known about God still know right from wrong. They know it's wrong to kill, steal, covet, etc. God will judge them on a case by case basis. How do your friends and neighbors normally hear Jesus’ word? What might be your role in seeing that they hear his word? In a lot of cases they don't get to hear Jesus' word. In my case I really need to lift my game in order for my friends and neighbors to be aware that Jesus is alive and working in me.

Q1. (John 5:19-20) Are we intended to emulate Jesus’ listening to the Father, or is knowing the Bible a modern-day substitute for this? I came up in a reformed, non-charismatic Baptist church. No emphasis was placed on the more flamboyant gifts of the Spirit. To me the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Even in that somewhat limiting view, we'd still hear preachers tell about hearing the voice of God. If God has something to say, He'll say it. More often than not we can find what God is saying if we are really immersed in the Word of God, the Bible. If it's something that is important for us to hear, God will use other means, including an "impression" in our hearts from the indwellinlg Holy Spirit communicating directly with our spirit, and even a direct word or phrase that we "hear" like a trumpet blast in our mind. I had a neon sign type of word from God a few years ago that flashed brightly in my mind's eye. Why don’t churches teach more about hearing the voice of God? Unfortunately Satan is far more likely to speak to us directly than God is. To try and circumvent that, many churches actually forbid the use of the Spiritual gifts of tongues and prophecy. Even the ones that don't actually forbid tongues and prophecy will take someone aside and counsel them if they do utter a "word from God" in church. We have the Bible as God's Word and we rightly should read it and study it. We also have what I wrote in the above answer as another way in which God can and does speak to us. If we start listening to voices, we're in for trouble. The father of all liars will lie to us and pretend that he is God. That's what the devil does. It's his standard modus operandum. What would happen in our generation if we would learn to dynamically hear God and then obey what he is saying to us? I imagine it'd be like it was in the first century church.

Q4. (John 5:14-15) Is it possible to be blessed outwardly, but lost inwardly? Look no further than the recent suicide of Robin Williams to see that's true. It's very possible to be seemingly well off, while inside you're miserable to the point of death, Why did Jesus confront the healed man in the temple with his sin? Because in this instance the man's illness was the result of the ongoing sin in his life. Jesus had healed him, but there was a chance something else bad could befall him is he didn't change his ways. How was this necessary for a full healing, his salvation? Even though the man was now able-bodied, he was still bound for hell if he kept up his sinful ways. Even if nothing bad happened to him in this life from then on, he was still condemned for the way he lived. Does the man seem to respond with faith to Jesus’ rebuke? No. He seemd to be solely concerned with keeping the authorities off his back by finking out Jesus as the man who told him to carry his mat on the Sabbath.

Q3. (John 5:9-13) Why are the “sabbath police” (the Pharisees) so upset at the man who is healed? They're upset because they see him carrying his mat on the Sabbath. That is technically doing "work" and it deeply offends them. The Pharisees are so caught up in legalism that they would persecute anyone not following ALL their often man-made rules. How can a person be so intent on rules that they miss what God is doing? It can happen. People get stuck in traditions and won't move with the times. People like to make rules so that if you follow the rules you won't slip up. If there's room for error or misinterpretation, often the authorities will invent rules to follow to prevent that. Have you ever caught yourself doing that? No. But I have seen the need in my own life to do things a certain way in order to make sure I do them right. Call it OCD if you like, but when you live alone and you have things that must be done, you'll find the best way to do them and then stick to that way. Has someone in your church been so intent on “how we do things here” that they couldn’t see God at work? A miserable wowser in my old church had a son who was the lead singer in a Christian Punk band. The band had released an album and were in demand at other churches as well, with a really vibrant ministry. He was so against his son doing that because he personally didn't like punk rock that he threatened his son in this way: "Unless you quit that band immediately I'll write to the diaconate demanding that your band never play at our church again." Shane took one for the team and quit the band. One day I bumped into his dad at the garage when we both pulled in for fuel. It was really tempting to trip the old coot and then give him a kick in the guts before helping him up. I could have made it look like an accident. What is the sin of the Pharisees here? Jesus condemned the Pharisees numerous times for placing man-made rules ahead of God's Law and for slamming the door to the Kingdom of Heaven in the faces of the people wanting to enter. Jesus admitted that they had the keys to the Kingdom and had locked the door, after refusing to enter themselves.

Q2. (John 5:6) Why do you think Jesus asked the invalid if he wanted to get well? Jesus was probing into this man's life and character. He usually goes deeper than mere appearances. This is an unusual story in that the former invalid didn't praise God, or Jesus for that matter, for his healing but just went his way, seemingly ungrateful. Contrast him with the cripple that Peter and John healed in the Temple in Acts:3. He wouldn't let them go, he was over the moon with gratitude! Why is it important for us not to make assumptions, but to seek discernment about people’s needs before we pray for them? Sometimes a physical symptom is a sign of a spiritual need. I know this because I went for healing to the Healing Rooms and they cast out demons from me! And I was healed from some, but not all, of my problems. Sometimes we're just given grace to bear up under them.

Q1. (John 5:1-16) How would you describe the invalid’s character? The invalid’s faith? I'm not going to condemn this man too harshly. He'd been an invalid for 38 years and that must have had a profoundly negative effect on his character. This man was a sinner, and not a very nice person, as is so often the case with the chronically ill. The Bible doesn't go into what the man's sin was, but since he was an elderly invalid I'm gonna guess that he most likely was a nasty man who cussed people out all the time. When you can't get around there's not much sin you CAN get into apart from the sins of the tongue. It'd be pretty hard to commit adultery, steal, kill anyone, etc when you're lying on a mat! His faith? He had none. We're not told how long he'd been coming to the pool but it may have been for many years. His whole future depended on his being the first to get into the pool when the water was stirred . . to his way of thinking. So when Jesus asked him if he wanted to be well, he probably thought Jesus may have been going to throw him into the water. That's how the man envisaged his healing would happen . . if it were ever to happen. How does Jesus’ healing here demonstrate the grace of God? Jesus healed this man despite his being not a nice person, one who from a human perspective didn't deserve anything good to be done for him. Why do we humans find it difficult to accept grace when it is offered to us? From infancy we're rewarded for good behavior and punished for bad behavior. We see God as the ultimate punisher, the one who after destroying the body can throw both body and soul into hell. We even read in the Bible that no one is righteous enough to please God. In our human minds we envisage God as the destroying fire, rather than the God of Love. Thus, when offered something for nothing we see it as too good to be true. Why do we resist the concept that God’s gifts are entirely by grace? Well, someone from my generation (I'm 60) would have a strong work ethic. We think we need to work at something to really deserve it. Getting something entirely for free is an alien concept.

Q4. Have you read of miracles accompanying a great harvest of new believers on the missions fields in our day? What place do miracles have in evangelism today – both in your country and abroad? Why do some denominations in our day deemphasize miracles or claim that they were only for the early church? Why do some denominations emphasize miracles? Which of these types of denominations tend to grow faster? What kind of “discipling” is necessary for those who come to Christ primarily on the basis of miracles? I've been to some churches where they preach the Gospel and also call people forward to receive a "touch from The Lord". There were people keeling over right left and center, but whether any actual healing happened I don't know. I went forward for healing at one of them and for whatever reason I didn't fall backwards. They took me aside and tried to figure out why I didn't go down. Unconfessed sin? A lack of faith? No one could work it out. I certainly didn't know. I did point out to the guy that Jesus healed people regardless of if they'd confessed their sins recently or not. There is the (in)famous passage in Corinthians that states that only three gifts will remain, faith hope and love. Some denominations use that to back up their claim that miracles were only for the early Church to help it get established. Some denominations downplay miracles. There are some charismatic Catholic churches around and some authorities I used to know used the fact that the Catholic church isn't really a Christian church to dismiss the whole charismatic movement. Their reasoning? If the charismatic gifts are being given to a non-Christian, non-Bible-based church that worships Mary, diefies saints, and practices other non-biblical things, then the gifts can't be from God. I don't necessarily totally go along with that. Some denominations emphasize miracles and base their whole services around that. These tend to grow faster than the "reformed" denominations, but also have a ridiculously high participant turnover. One pentecostal church in my city had a 90% membership turnover in just two years. They also seem to be the ones that have the most adulterous pastors for some reason. I think anyone who's become a Christian after witnessing a miracle in church needs to be told plainly that sometimes God doesn't grant every prayer we pray. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes we are just given grace to bear whatever problem we take to the Lord in prayer. The Christian life shouldn't be like a junkie's trip from high to high. When you come down, just go to a meeting and get another "touch from the Lord" to boost you back up again. People can become addicted to the spiritual high.

Q2. (John 4:43-50) What do we learn about the royal official’s faith from his actions? He was a man who had sufficient faith to take Jesus at his word. If Jesus said it, he believed it. Why did he travel 20 miles from Capernaum to Cana? What does this say about his faith? He'd obviously heard about a miracle-working healer and was desperate to help his dying son. He was a loving father who was prepared to make that journey as fast as possible and he was determined to see Jesus. He had the faith, from what he'd heard about Jesus, to make the trip and to beg Jesus for His help. When he departs for home and “takes Jesus at his word,” what does this tell us about his faith? I don't believe Jesus was off-hand with this man. Fair enough, He rebuked the crowd for being fickle, but here was a man who had a desperate need and Jesus knew that. I reckon the way Jesus said the words: "Go, your son will live", left the man in no doubt that Jesus meant what He'd said. The man's faith increased even more when his servants met him and told him his son's fever had broken and that he was well again. So the man had enough initial faith to trust Jesus at His word to begin with and then, when Jesus did the miracle he and his household became believers! What a wonderful passage.

Q1. (John 4:43-48) Many of the Galileans believe mainly because they have seen miracles. In what ways do miracles help build faith? It's a lot easier to believe in the power of God when you see it actively and wonderfully at work in someone's life and circumstances. If you never see God's power at work it's really hard to keep on believing. Why does only seeing miracles not build a mature faith? If you live from high to high, like some spiritual drug addict, you'll never develop a deep abiding faith. If you don't get your "touch from the Lord" on Sunday night, or see miracles happen in front of you every week, your faith will be superficial. Why does Jesus rebuke the Galileans in 4:48? Because they were fickle. They only believed in Jesus as a miracle worker and not as their Saviour.

Q2. (John 4:35) What caused the harvest to ripen so rapidly in Sychar? I think the time was right and perhaps at that time people everywhere were looking forward to the Messiah's coming. Notice the woman said to the townsfolk: "Could He be the Messiah?" That's not a question one would normally ask, I'd expect. How likely is it that the testimony of one, discredited woman could make such a huge impact? Not likely at all . . without the involvement of the Holy Spirit who definitely went ahead of her and prepared the hearts of the townsfolk. What might God do with your testimony if you were to share it? I've shared my testimony many times over the years with minimal impact. Maybe I didn't do it right? Why is it necessary to “open our eyes” to see the potential spiritual harvest? God often needs to give us a wake up call to see people in need all around us. We're involved in our own thing, or even in Christian service, and are sometimes blind to the needs of even our friends and family.

Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that “God is spirit”? God is omnipresent and not confined to any physical space. Only by being "spirit" is that possible. What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? We must worship the Father in spirit, meaning that we must have the Holy Spirit in us in order to properly worship God. Our spirit, united with His Holy Spirit then communes with God on levels we can't reach in a worldly way. We must worship the Father in truth, meaning that we must acknowledge His sovereignty over all things and His right to do with us as He pleases. We must worship according to the truth contained in Scripture and not make up ways of worshipping God that may feel good but have no Biblical base. Without wanting to offend anyone . . I remember when the "Toronto Blessing" phenomenon swept Christendom. I used to watch some of the church services broadcasted on TV and there'd be idiots laughing their guts out while the preacher was preaching and one crazy dude running around doing aeroplane impersonations! That behavior was so totally irreverent as to be insulting to the God of the universe in whose house they were worshipping. It was unscriptural and not of God at all. I know that's an extreme example, but even making up stupid pointless choruses that don't agree doctrinally with the Bible is NOT worshipping God in TRUTH. At one youth rally they sung a song that ended with "God is looking after His/Her creation and keeping Her children safe". In the space on ONE LINE the writers of that chorus (kids at an under-supervised youth convention) had not only neutered God but given Him a sex change! I was offered the lead guitarist's spot in the house band but I knocked it back after hearing that. Didn't want to be a part of heresy. Have you ever “gone through the motions” of worship without worshipping? Haven't we all? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God? Approach Him with a contrite heart for starters. Praise Him for what He's done for us. Tell Him we love Him. Then ask Him for what we need if we still feel we need it.

Q5. (John 4:19-22) What motives cause the woman to bring up a religious controversy to Jesus? I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt here. She's just realized Jesus is a prophet . . . and a good one, since He's just told her about her life when He couldn't have possibly known about her at all unless he was a prophet. I think she just wanted to pick His brain. What an opportunity to have a one on one with a real prophet! She probably didn't really know what to say to the man who just "told her everything she ever did" Why do people today try to generate religious controversies with us? What are their motives? People don't want to be put on the spot. So they try to turn the tables on Christians by pointing out "mistakes" in the Bible, or "inconsistencies" that very often they really know nothing about, just to make us squirm. I've heard hundreds of controvertial criticisms of the Bible in my life. Here are some corkers! "Jesus must have been married because Rabbis have to marry and He was called Rabbi . . . Beg pardon? " I reject the Bible because there is no humor anywhere in it" . . . I got told that one only this week!! "Every time they translate the Bible they come up with something different to the point where it's no longer accurate" . . . The people who made these statements have never read the Bible at all. Just thought I'd mention that.

Q4. (John 4:16-19) What was the effect of Jesus’ special knowledge of the woman’s history with men? It stopped her in her tracks! Up until now they were just having a normal conversation. Now, however, Jesus has just given her the word of knowledge concerning her sex life and she's stunned. What effect did it have on her faith? She immediately recognized Jesus as a prophet. I won't write too much here. It's all coming in tomorrow's lesson. How can such gifts of the Spirit work today to bring people to faith or deepen their faith? Sometimes a gifted healer can sniff out the root cause of someone's illness. That happened to me a few years ago. I went it for healing for my busted up shoulders and came out having been exorcised! . . . and free of pain, praise God!!

Q3. (John 4:9-15) What does the “gift of God” and the “living water” (4:9) refer to? The Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The constantly renewing regeneration of Jesus' life in us by the indweling Holy Spirit. What does receiving this gift result in (4:14)? Eternal life, forgiveness of sins, acceptance into the Kingdom of God, inheritance of all Jesus promised us. Does this gift differ from or is another way of saying the “baptism with the Spirit” that John the Baptist spoke about in 1:33? It is kind of the same. Jesus here is referring to the regenerated Christian whose faith and trust is in Him and who is being renewed into the likeness of Christ. The only spiritual thirst we feel is the thirst and hunger to know more of God. John the Baptist spoke of Jesus as the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. The "Gift of God" is salvation and the "living water" is the Holy Spirit filling us.

Q2. (John 4:9-15) Jesus’ words to the woman in verses 10-13 seem to imply that all people are spiritually thirsty. What has been your experience? All people are indeed spiritually thirsty. It's incredibly frustrating to hear a spiritually thirsty person emphatically deny their obvious thirst. My best friend at high school was a prime example. He criticized me for needing God, said I had an incomplete nature while he had a complete nature with no holes to fill. Yet he was miserable a lot of the time and couldn't find peace in his heart. He was too proud to admit his need for the peace of God in his life. It seemed too easy for him. He wanted something harder to do than to accept Christ. My best friend from my decade long involvement in powerlifting was a very intelligent man with a double degree from university. He couldn't accept that God woud forgive anyone any sin if they turned to Him earnestly and honestly and repented, and accepted Christ as their Savior. He said: What about Adolf Hitler? I told him that even if Hitler repented and confessed his sins and accepted Jesus he would be forgiven. I also pointed out that Saint Paul had overseen the martydom of quite a few Christians before his own conversion. But my friend insisted that he would argue his way into Heaven on the basis of his own righteous life. He was a gifted speaker and captain of the university debating team. But he had something gnawing at his guts that wouldn't be satiated. A few years later his wife kicked him out when she learned he was molesting their three-year-old daughter. He'd become a full-on incestuous paedophile! Belonged to a paedophile ring, had a huge kiddieporn collection and everything. He was seeking gratification and trying to fill the hole in his life with the worst alternative there is! I unceasingly witnessed to that man for years. His own wife became a Christian through contact with me, yet he wouldn't have any of it. I never told anyone about his incest. His wife asked me not to. But he couldn't take that chance. After their marriage broke up he turned a lot of his efforts to destroying my reputation and good name until I had no witness left in the sport because everyone believed him when he said that I'd recruited his wife to a cult and that we'd made up the whole thing so he couldn't have access to their daughter when he wouldn't convert and join the cult. Cult? It was the local Baptist Church! Those are just two glaring examples of the spiritually thirsty. One was miserable for the lack of peace in his life and the other sought peace in terrible sins of the flesh. Does the woman seem spiritually thirsty at this point? Of course she does. She's unhappy with her life as it is and even from what is written in John's account we can pick up on that. The way she speaks slightly billigerantly to Jesus is our first clue. She'd argue at the drop of a hat. One sure sign of a hungry and thirsty spirit. What caused her deep thirst to surface? She'd been engaged in conversation with someone (Jesus) who was offering her a better way, an alternative, to quench her thirst. Jesus was speaking metaphorically and she was responding in the literal way, but we can see she really wants to know more. What does this teach us about our own witness? Any conversation can lead to an opportunity to share the things of God. We have to be open and available to God's Spirit to use an opportunity to share the good news about Jesus. We also have to be able to sense when someone is searching and spiritually thirsty.

Q1. (John 4:7-9) Why do you think Jesus went against the social norms to communicate with the woman? While living on earth as a human being Jesus divested Himself of some of His Godly attributes. We see here that He was tired, for example. He did however know everything that was going to happen to Him while on earth. John:18.4 tells us that. Jesus already knew that He was going to impart some of the most important truths of the Christian faith to this woman!! . . . And that His beloved disciple John would eventually write it down for us! As far as I know this is the first time Jesus openly tells anyone He is the Messiah. That He revealed Himself firstly to a Samaritan woman who was the town bike is, I believe, an example Jesus Himself has set here that we as Christians have to take the Gospel to those society shuns and not just preach it from the pulpit on Sundays. He didn't go straight into the town of Sychar and preach to the populance from the town hall; He started from the outside and let His words to possibly the lowest woman in town work their way in. Notice later in the text that the towns folk did invite Jesus to stay a couple of days, and He did speak with them about the Kingdom, and that many became believers in those two days. Why do we hesitate to go against social norms to share the good news? Typically we don't want to be seen slumming it. People are always concerned with what others think of them, whether they'll admit it or not. In the past I had a little bit to do with the Christian Bikers in the 1990s, and before that the Christian Surfers in the 1970s. I'm old. In both ministries I was a musician, and still am, and only operated on the periphery as a member of various Christian bands that played at some para-church events supporting these ministries. The Christian Boardriders are now defunct as far as I know. The God Squad, the motorcycle club dedicated to reaching some of the hardest men on earth, is still going strong. In Australia there are now laws in some states including my home state that make simply being a member of a motorcycle club a crime and if you're an office bearer, like president, vice-president, or sergeant-at-arms, you could face 25 years in jail . . . I'm not making this up! The God Squad members face the same penalties if they're seen associating with outlaw bikers and are arrested. These men are still involved in this ministry despite the very real danger of going to jail for hanging out with bikers. I'm wirting this to illustrate that It's sometimes not easy to take the Gospel to where those who need it live. How do we balance our need to obey God and our need to live peaceably in our culture? That's a good question. We are told, I can't remember where, that we are to uphold the laws of the country where we live, except where those laws contravene the laws of God. But it's more important for us as Christians to please God rather than man. I realize I didn't properly answer the question. It's really a case of taking things as they come, day by day. Place God first and live as peaceably as we can after that's been established.

Q1. (John 3:22) What is the importance of Jesus spending time with his disciples? What is his strategy? Jesus was modelling behavior and attitudes to others the whole time He was with His disciples. Prior to His coming all they had was the Law of Moses, which was pretty sterile. How does Jesus make disciples today? He doesn't; that's our job. He lives and works through human agents. Where is our time with the Discipler? At Church and in private Bible study. How important is your time as a discipler, “hanging out” with people God puts on your heart to disciple? I think it's very important. Too many people "recruit" others to Christ and then leave them to their own devices almost the same week. No wonder so many fall away.

Q3. (John 3:5-7) What does it mean to be “born of water and the Spirit”? We must be contrite of heart and repent from our sins. In those days prophets like John would baptize folks who were wanting to renew their devotion to God or were first time converts to Judaism. I think Jesus was endorsing that practice. He then goes on to say we must be born of the Spirit. That is God's doing. God gives us His Holy Spirit and we are made new in God's eyes . . born anew into salvation, if you like. What do you think “water” refers to? Why have you come to this conclusion? I've always believed it refers to baptism. Reading this study reinforces that view. As Pastor Ralph points out, Pharisees thought they had it made as far as salvation went because they obeyed fully the law of Moses to the letter. They were proud of themselves for being so pious. For a Pharisee to admit he needed a Savior would have been a rare thing indeed. Jesus knew exactly what to say to Nicodemus to answer the questions he had in his heart. All Jerusalem was buzzing about John the Baptist's ministry and I think Jesus alluded to that in what he said. How, then, would you paraphrase “born of water and the Spirit” to best bring out the full meaning? No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he/she is cleansed from sin by repentance and re-birth by the Holy Spirit's indwelling sanctification and is baptized as a sign of rebirth.

Q2. (John 3:3-5) What does “entering the Kingdom” have to do with being “born anew”? Jesus declared Himself to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one can come to the Father (the King of the Kingdom) except through (faith in) Him. He also described Himself as the Gate and the Door to the Kingdom. We enter the Kingdom of God by believing in Jesus' name . . . and all that His name represents . . . and by our acknowledgement of His death on our behalf. When we do that, we are born anew, or again, as children of God. This is a Spiritual birth. The Holy Spirit enters us and begins to change or sanctify us and makes us righteous in God's sight. Without the Holy Spirit in us we're not born anew. That's why this phrase has multiple meanings. Jesus often spoke like this, not only in His parables but in many conversations as well. Which do you think is the best translation here: “born again,” “born anew,” or “born from above”? Defend your reasoning. They're all valid. "Born anew" signifies that we are renewed as new creations, as Paul describes the Christian experience. "Born from above" siginfies that it's God's doing and not something we can accomplish ourselves . . so that makes it equally valid. I reckon Jesus used the term "born again" to make Nicodemus think. And it worked because Nicodemus didn't understand at first what Jesus meant. Jesus had to clarify his meaning. As I wrote in an earlier answer to yesterday's question, It's a pity we don't have a written record of the entire conversation that night. Jesus began somewhat ambiguouosly then clarified His statement. He did this purposely to make Nicodemus ponder in his mind the importance of what he'd just been told. Jesus had given Nicodemus the answer to how to gain eternal life! He knew what Nicodemus really wanted to ask Him so He cut straight to the chase without any small talk. Nicodemus was approaching Jesus in a reverent way using Rabbinical protocol and Jesus answered his question before he'd gotten around to asking it. When you think about it, this was something of a prophetic insight miracle in itself . . knowing what someone was going to ask before he asks it.

Q1. (John 3:3, 5) What does Jesus teach here about the nature of the Kingdom of God? Jesus is teaching that the Kingdom of God is not of this world, at least not yet. The kingdom of God can only be entered by someone who is enabled by God to be born of water (baptism) and of the Spirit (hearing and believing by the grace of God that the Son of God came to die for their sins). It's not a physical kingdom that has boundaries and a pollitical system. Do you think Nicodemus understands him? I don't reckon he does, at first. Unfortunately the entire conversation hasn't been preserved in John's Gospel. I'll never believe that Jesus only said to Nicodemus what is recorded in the Bible text and then Nicodemus just wandered away. He'd come seeking answers to questions that were burning in his mind. Such a learned man wouldn't have left it at that. He would definitely have sought further clarification. What a conversation they must have had and what a pity it hasn't been preserved. Why or why not? Nicodemus was a very well educated man and knew the Scriptures inside out. Jesus' teaching would initially not make much sense to him, as we see in the text. Jesus probably went into greater detail, as much as He knew Nicodemus could accept at that time, THEN Nicodemus went his way, thinking deeply on the things Jesus had taught him. Eventually he did become a follower of Jesus, as we read later on.

Q2 (John 2:11-17) Apparently, Jesus was angry. Was his anger justified? In this case Jesus' anger was wholly justified. Whether the people understood why He was angry or not, He probabaly didn't care. His righteous anger at what had become of His temple (and it was His temple) spurred him to action. Why? Well, consider this: What was happening had been going on for a long time. God had not raised up a prophet to do what Jesus had done up to that time. In Old Testament times this sort of thing was what a prophet of God would do. Many of them were told by God to behave in some strange and bizzare ways to draw attention to whatever message God had for them. Some prophets actually took a leadership role, like Elijah and Elishah. So in this instance Jesus was doing the work of a traditional prophet. Also: Jesus was far more than a mere prophet, He was the Son of God. It was what we might call a personal in-store appearance by the head guy, the owner of the store. He had every right to be angry at the state of affairs. All the Gospels recorded Jesus' cleansing of the temple and it probably left a lasting impression in the minds of everyone there at the time as well. Mission accomplished! Is anger good or bad? Anger is usually bad. When we get angry we often cross the line and use our anger to justify taking revenge and getting even. There are a few types of anger. The only one that can be not regarded as sinful is righteous anger, outrage at an unjust action or a deplorable set of circumstances. It's OK to be angry when we hear of some paedophile, or murderer, or suicide bomber, or terrorist, or a con man who's ripped off innocents, etc. But even then, we must not let our anger lead us into sin. Righteous anger MUST be tempered with reason and be directed into a positive response, rather than merely used to justify punishing a guilty party. What about anger gets us into trouble? We can get into trouble, maybe not in the eyes of man, but in the eyes of God, when we let our anger have full sway and take revenge on whoever is in the wrong. We're told by Jesus Himself to forgive those who sin against us. Now that's what we should always try to do. Sometimes . . . and I'll use bullying as an example . . . the person sinning against us keeps on doing it. Should we retalliate? Should we just forgive 70 times 7 times and let ourselved continue to be bullied? As a third party should we stand by and think: It's OK, what's-his-name is a Christian and he's forgiving that dude for humiliating him or whatever the bully is doing. I'll do nothing and let that keep happening? I don't believe it is OK. If we see a wrong being done and do nothing to stop it, we're committing the sin of omission. I've seen bullying victims' lives irrevocably ruined because they wouldn't or couldn't defend themselves and no one else took up their cause and made it stop. The more a bully gets away with it the more he'll keep doing it. The time will come when someone will have to teach the bully a hard lesson, and that will most likely be in the form of a severe beating. That's the easy solution and not what God wants. I don't have the answers here. In our world today there is terrorism on a world-wide scale. We are rightly outraged by the beheadings and other acts of brutality. Our countries' leaders have the power and authority to mete out punishment to the ones committing the brutal acts. Unfortunately the terrorists are so far gone because of a lifetime of brainwashing that the only practical solution is to kill them. At least that's the world's perception. As Christians what should our attitude be? We're approaching a holy war situation here. Their god, Allah . . . and I will never believe that Allah is the same god as Jehovah . . . encourages them to kill anyone who is not a follower. That's gotta stop.

Q1. (John 2:14-17) What was going on in the temple? People were using the temple courtyards as a common marketplace to sell scarificial animals and to exchange money and currencies. I have no doubt that other stalls were also set up to sell other things, as happens today in our modern flea markets. At a bike show, for example, there are stalls where folks can buy jewellery etc, as well as food vendors. That was probably going on in Jerusalem when Jesus arrived. Why was Jesus offended by it? As God the Son, Jesus saw the temple built to worship Him degraded into nothing more than a common market place. There was nothing reverent about what was going on and there would have been precious little space left for anyone who actually came to worship God in that place. What action did Jesus take? Jesus literaly threw them all out. He didn't ask them to leave; he physically and personally ejected them.

Q4. (John 2:6-10) Why did Jesus perform this miracle behind-the-scenes? Who was he trying to protect? As He said, it wasn't the right time for Jesus to reveal to the masses who He was. In that situation, with the drink already flowing, things could have gotten out of hand if everyone at the wedding feast suddenly cottoned onto the fact that the Messiah was among the guests. Jesus was protecting His own agenda and the privacy of His earthly family as well. What does the quantity of the wine tell us about Jesus’ glory? What does the quality of the wine tell us about Jesus’ glory? Jesus didn't just turn the water into ordinary wine . . . It was wine of the finest quality imaginable, and plenty of it. If you're gonna do a miracle, make it a good one! Jesus, the Son of God, doesn't do things by half measure, not ever. This is a simple example of "My God will supply all your needs."