REDHEADS

      Jesus said to the disciples:  Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:  but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 10:5,6).  Later, the Lord would call Saul of Tarsus, change his name to Paul, and he would become the Apostle to the Gentiles, which are non-Jewish people. 
    The "lost sheep of the house of Israel" were the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, which had been scattered.  And after the day of Pentecost, the disciples and apostles knew their marching orders and they went to preach the gospel of Christ to the Jews that were scattered, and Paul went to the Gentiles.
     The apostle Andrew made three missionary journeys, one of which took him 5,000 miles from Israel to an area of the world known today as the Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, and north of the Black Sea to preach to a group of people known as the Scythians.
     The Scythians were experts in horsemanship and could shoot the bow while riding.  Many had full body tattoos, they were well dressed, and even their horses were outfitted in beautiful and ornate costumes.  The women participated in war as much as men and women had to kill three enemies before she could marry.  The people were also skilled in agriculture, tending flocks and herds of livestock.  They did not, however, eat pigs.
     The apostle Andrew went to the Scythians to preach the gospel of Christ as the Lord had commanded:  to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  The Scythians were Israelites of the tribe of Dan, and they fled from Israel during the Assyrian invasion in about 720 B.C., at which time they fled to the north and established a kingdom exactly where Andrew found them.
     In the land of their empire, the Scythians renamed rivers from the tribe of Dan:  the Danube, the Dniester, the Dnieper, and the Don, which are known by these names even to this day.
     The Scythians were Ashkenazim Jews and they had three physical characteristics:  light skin, bright red hair, and deep blue eyes.  Some historians refer to them as "white Jews".
     Later, the Scythians invaded Ireland and Scotland and two names emerged:  Scots and Anglo Saxons.  Bright red hair and light skin became dominate in the monarchies of the United Kingdom, then to other parts of Europe, including Germany, France, Poland, and then to the United States.
     Famous redheads include:  Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ; six U.S. presidents; General George Custer; Napoleon Bonaparte; Cleopatra, female Egyptian ruler; Vincent Van Gogh, artist; Sir Winston Churchill; Mary, Queen of Scots; Queen Elizabeth I; Vladimir Lenin; Joseph Stalin; King Henry VIII; Queen Victoria; Margaret Thatcher.
     Today, red hair remains the dominate hair color of Ireland and Scotland.
     Even the present Royal Family of Great Britain has red hair.  Prince William and Prince Harry have red hair, but they dye their hair to conceal the natural color of red.
     Redheaded people are also known to have two dominate personality characteristics:  quick, fiery tempers and sharp, biting words.
     The country name of "Russia" means "land of reds", in honor of a redheaded Viking from Denmark by the name of Rurik, called "the Rus" because of his red hair.
     Red-headed clowns also have their origin in Russia.
     Looking to the future, the Antichrist will be a Jew.  He must be a Jew in order to be the messiah of Israel.  He is, however, the Great Imposter of Jesus Christ.  He will be a "son of David,"  who is the former King David of Israel, and King David had red hair.  So look for the Antichrist to be a man with red hair and light skin, and his genealogy will be from King David.
     As always, you are encouraged to read the Bible and know the truth about this evil man, the Antichrist, who will become a ruthless global dictator.  More than this, however, read the Bible and know Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Therefore read the Word of God and receive a promise from God, according to Revelation 1:3.  Do it quickly.

ONE DOOR, ONE WAY

     The most important decision you will make in all of your life is what to do about Jesus, whom is called Christ.
     One of the saddest verses in all of Scripture speaks of the time when Christ returns to earth, found in Revelation 17:8---and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.
     The best example I have heard about knowing Christ is to consider the refrigerator door.  When you open the door to your refrigerator, the light comes on.  When you open the door of your heart to Christ, the Light comes on.  If, however, you keep the door of your heart closed to Christ, the Light never comes on and you will abide in darkness.  And if you keep the door of your heart closed to Christ, then you will die in darkness.
     Jesus said,  I am the door:  by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.... (John 10:9).
     Jesus also said, I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  (John 14:6).
     Not only is knowing Christ a ground-floor opportunity, He is also the opportunity of a lifetime.  This is the most important decision you will ever make.  Is there any reason why you will not accept Him now?

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

      And after Jesus explained the born again procedure to Nicodemus, he was indeed born again as a believer in Christ, thereby casting away his faith in religion. 
     Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a priest and a leader of the Jewish people.  He was also a member of the Sanhedrin, the high court in Israel.  His decision to follow Christ was not popular, and he was denied his office and banished from Jerusalem by the hostile Jews. 
     But after the crucifixion and death of Jesus, Nicodemus provided about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes at his own expense and helped others enbalm the body of Jesus in a tomb. 
     Mary, the mother of Jesus, also watched her son die that day, but upon seeing Jesus after His resurrection, she called her son, "Lord".  No longer would she see Him as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, nor as a boy growing up in Nazareth, for her own son became her Savior.
    Mary was also one of the 120 people that were in a room praying on the day of Pentecost, at which time she received the Holy Spirit along with all the others.  Later, she traveled to Britain to minister to the needs of others and to proclaim the Gospel of Christ for the rest of her life.
    Joseph of Arimethea was the uncle of Mary and great uncle of Jesus.  Joseph had a thriving business as a tin merchant, yet his business did not experience financial decline because he chose to follow Jesus.  Joseph was a disciple, teacher, preacher and served the Lord at Glastonbury, where he also baptized converts and helped the congregation there to construct the first Christian church building in the world.
    Fanny Crosby lived from 1820 to 1915, and she wrote some of the most beloved hymns that have been sung in Christian churches for the past one hundred years.  In her lifetime, she composed more than 8,000 songs.  Fanny Crosby was blind from her birth.
    Over the past 2,000 years, millions of people have been born again in Christ Jesus, and all of them have done something for the Lord.  Thousands and thousands of believers fled Europe during a time of great persecution and they brought with them the Gospel of Christ to the United States and from here to around the world.  We should be thankful to them even though we will never hear their stories.
   One of Fanny Crosby's songs says it all:  To God Be The Glory.

A NEW BEGINNING

     Knowing Jesus Christ is a spiritual awakening, which is precisely the way the Lord explained it to a man by the name of Nicodemus in the third chapter of the Gospel of John.  Jesus said, "You must be born again," which also means born anew or born from above.  Nicodemus was a priest and he did not know this new birth.
    Jesus died on the cross to redeem the penalty of sin and to restore our relationship with God, and when we accept Him for salvation our sins are forgiven and our spirit is awakened into newness of life.
    Salvation is therefore a gift of God because of His love for us, by His grace and mercy.  All we need to do is simply accept His gift by accepting Christ.  There is nothing we can do to either work or earn our way to heaven; for if we could do that, then Christ would not have had to die on the cross.
     On the day of Pentecost, 120 believers of Christ were in a room.  They were praying.  That is when they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, who would empower them to walk in newness of life as well as to enable them to do for the Lord the task they could not do by themselves.
     For us, the only time we will be granted forgiveness of our sins is when we pray.  In this time of prayer, God forgives us and also gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This does not mean, however, that we will be perfect and incapable of doing anything wrong because we will make errors.  But we also know that we can continually ask God to forgive us for our mistakes and He will.
     The new birth in Jesus Christ is the greatest experience I have ever had.  I have had more peace than I have ever known.  He has opened my mind to understand things than I never understood before.  In this time, too, I have made many blunders and foolish decisions. 
     Knowing Christ is all about a new beginning:  a new life that God has planned for us.
     Nicodemus the priest became a disciple of Christ and thereafter followed Him instead of following religion.

A FALSE IDENTITY

     Before Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, He said, Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  (Matthew 7:15).
     Over the past 2,000 years, thousands of men and women have been pretending to be followers of Christ as well as ministers, preachers, teachers, and priests.  Not only have they done this, but they devote their entire lives pretending to be someone they are not.  Even now, there are thousands of people around the world pretending to be ministers, teachers, preachers, and priests of Jesus Christ.
     Why have people done this?  Why are they doing it now?  Do they not have anything better to do? 
     False prophets are not representatives of God, but they are, in fact, agents of darkness. Their work is to distract people from believing in Christ by distorting the teachings of the Lord and the Holy Scriptures by injecting doctrines that are not of God, but are written by men.  
    Can we know who the deceivers are?  Jesus said, You shall know them by their fruits. 
    By their fruits means by their labor.  What are they producing?  You can know them by their actions, their deeds, and by their words.  If they are preaching any way to get to heaven other than by Christ they are false prophets, fasle teachers, ministers, and priests.  They look and sound authenic.  They are skilled at public speaking, debating, and they are persuasive.  They wear clothing that is appropriate for the office they represent.
     Not only have false prophets been deceived, but their works assist others to be deceived as well; and thus generations of families can be deceived from knowing Christ because people have placed their faith in what they see and hear from false teachers.
     Furthermore, Jesus said, Even so a good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
     If you know Christ, however, you will know the false prophets and teachers.  He will give you the knowledge to know the difference between truth and lies as well as how to recognize people wearing masks.
     A final point for your consideration is this:  had Jesus remained dead, there would be no false prophets falsely representing Him, there would be no Christians, there would be no churches, and this blog today would have never been written.
    

THE SECRET DISCIPLE

     Joseph of Arimethea was a rich man and he owned a fleet of ships, transporting tin from Britain to outposts of the Roman Empire across the seas. He was one of the wealthiest individuals in the world in the time that he lived.  

     Joseph was the son of Mattahis and of the lineage of King David, and he was the also the uncle of Mary, the mother of Jesus, which made Joseph the great uncle of the Lord. And after Joseph, the husband of Mary, died, Joseph of Arimethea became the legal guardian of the children of Joseph and Mary, including Jesus.

     Other than Mary, no person on earth knew more about Jesus than Joseph of Arimethea; yet his name is mentioned in only six verses in the New Testament. 

     As the apostles of Jesus departed Jerusalem to take the Good News of Christ to the uttermost parts of the world, Joseph of Arimethea, a disciple of Jesus, provided his ships as vehicles of transportation for the apostles and many disciples to Africa, India, Russia, Greece, Rome, Spain, Turkey, France, and Britain.  How else could the apostles and disciples reach their destinations so quickly other than by sea?

     Britain was a land abundant in natural resources:  gold, copper, iron, lead, salt, silver, and tin, which the Romans used throughout the Empire.  Tin was used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion and tin was mined from the Mendip Hills near Glastonbury, where Joseph's ships made many voyages---not only to pick up and deliver tin, but also to bring the apostles and disciples.

     Britain was also the land that experienced the largest growth of conversions to Jesus, and the apostle Philip, who had been preaching and teaching in France, sent 160 disciples to Britain to help train and educate the new converts in Britain.  Joseph was also an educator for new believers.

     Because of Joseph's business and personal relationships with British royalty, the kings of Britain gave Joseph and his companions 2,000 acres of land, tax free, on which the believers of Christ erected the first Christian church building in the world in 37 A.D. at Glastonbury.

     On one of Joseph's voyages from Israel to Glastonbury, his passengers included:  Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary and Martha; Marcella, the Bethany sisters maid; Mary Magdalene;  Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead; Eutropius; Salome; Maximin; Martial; Trophimus; Sidonius; and Cleon.  All of these people came to help with the growth of the church, and it was there, in Glastonbury, where Jesus' mother, Mary, lived for the rest of her life, and where she was likely buried.

     Joseph of Arimethea was of the lineage of King David, and his daughter, Anna, married Beli, King of Britain.  Beli was also of the lineage of King David.  Thus the marriage of Anna and King Beli began the royal bloodline of King David that would produce kings, queens, dukes, earls, princes, and princesses, from Glastonbury to Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Denmark, France, and also the United States, for the bloodlines of at least 25 U.S. Presidents has been traced to the United Kingdom, including current U.S. President, Barack Obama, because his mother was a Jew, and also because the Obama family name has genetic roots in Ireland.

     What happened at Glastonbury was only the beginning of something truly wonderful:  centuries later, Great Britain and the United States would promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ and produce more Christians, more missionaries, more teachers, preachers, ministers, evangelists, and more Christian educational centers in more places throughout the world than any two nations in human history.

     Britain would also produce the earliest Christian colleges and universities as well as the first translation of the Bible to the English language.

     In it all and through it all, Joseph of Arimethea has gone virtually unnoticed and unmentioned, which is probably the way Joseph would have wanted it to be:  as the secret disciple, giving his life and using his abundance of financial gains for his great nephew, Jesus Christ.

The "wattle and daub" Christian church of the first century is believed to have stood on the site where the Lady Chapel stands today in Glastonbury, Britain.

     An artist's impression of the thatched "wattle and daub" Christian church at Glastonbury, Britain, during the time of Joseph of Arimethea.

                                             

          





A MODEL PRAYER

     I EXORT, therefore, that, first of all,
     supplications, prayers, intercessions,
     and giving of thanks, be made for all men;  
     For kings, and for all that are in authority;
     that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life
     in all godliness and honesty.
     For this is good and acceptable
     in the sight of God our Saviour;
     Who will have all men to be saved,
     and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
     For there is one God,
     and one mediator between God and men,
     the man Christ Jesus;
     Who gave himself a ransom for all,
     to be testified in due time.
     (1st Timothy 2:1-6)