Category Archives: Biblical Musings

Sunday Brunch! – Should Christians Practice Magic?

Should Christians dabble with magic?

I know some think that magic is harmless, but, the Bible clearly speaks against sorcery, witchcraft and magic (I’ve noticed the Bible uses these terms somewhat interchangeably at times).
I wanted to talk about a man named Simon who’s mentioned in the book of Acts. He was a magician/sorcerer.

Everybody thought he was so great and people followed him – I’m even led to believe that some may have worshiped him. However, Philip came, proclaiming the word of God, Simon “believed” and was baptized. However, after Simon noted Peter and John laying their hands on the baptized, to give them the Holy Spirit, Simon offered them money, wanting them to show him how he could have that very same talent (bestowing of the Holy Spirit by the laying of his hands).

Peter blasted Simon for his disbelief about the gospel, telling him he needed to repent. Simon obviously didn’t accept the gospel with a believing and humble heart, he still had that magic rooted in him, and I don’t think he really let go of his love of sorcery.

I think sorcerers do have power, but that power doesn’t come from God. I don’t believe the Lord wants us to dabble with magic or sorcery.

I know some will argue and say a few card tricks are okay, but…I don’t know. Dabbling with any type of magic has always left me feeling a bit leery. Simon was great and people followed him, made me think: What, exactly, was Simon doing to gain such a following? I know he was doing magic, but, what exactly, did he do to gain that much power? Kind of scary when you think about it.

What do you think? Do you think it’s okay to dabble with harmless magic tricks, or do you think people should refuse to dabble at all? I’d be interested in hearing your responses.

I’ve copied and pasted the scripture from Acts that mentions Simon the Sorcerer. Also, I’ve been blogging about the early Christians and the book of Acts recently. You can see more posts about the early Christians here.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Acts 8:9-25 (NIV)

Simon the Sorcerer
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

Philip In Samaria – Acts 8:5-8

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Wow, so scary and amazing. Can you imagine Jesus giving you enough power to drive out evil spirits from the demon-possessed? Can you imagine being paralyzed and then healed? I wish I could’ve seen this happening. I’m sure sights of the healing and the exorcism of demons was something that one would always rmember. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you read this scripture?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Acts 8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.

Stephen – Stoned! – From The Blog Archives

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This is a blog post that I did back in 2009. Comment and share your thoughts if you wish…

Acts 6:15 (NIV)
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Isn’t this a powerful scripture? I wonder what his face looked like? I’m assuming there was a white/pale glow to his face? Could you imagine seeing a person today who looked like an angel? What would you do?

Acts 7:51-59 (NIV)
51″You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”
54When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56″Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Man, what powerful words! Can you imagine being stoned to death, then telling the Lord to forgive those persecuting you? Makes you stop and think of those suffering for the sake of the Lord. Imagine the pain of being stoned to death…brutal…makes me think, you know, as a Christian, I haven’t been through anything remotely related to this. Such suffering and intense physical pain. When you think your life is getting tough, think of how Stephen suffered…think of how Jesus suffered…

~Cecelia Dowdy~

The Early Christians – More Thoughts

The Early Christians – Further Thoughts…

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Photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos

Why is the Christian church not as closely-knit, with like-minded individuals, as the believers that are mentioned in the book of Acts?

I was talking to my husband about this last night, and we came up with the following reasons why the church of today is so different than the Early Christian Church:

1. It’s been about two thousand years since Christ came, died on the cross, and the early Christian church was formed. That’s a long time ago and during that time, our faith has been weakened and watered down. As a whole, our faith is simply not as strong as the faith of the Early Christians.

2. We are no longer one body. The Early Christian Church was one body of like-minded individuals. During the passage of time, over two thousand years, we’re no longer one body, but several bodies. We have so many denominations and sects (and some of those denominations and sects will claim that the other sects and denominations are unsaved, causing arguments and fallout) that we’re no longer united and that’s just another factor that weakens the faith of the Christian church.

3. The Early Christians existed right after Jesus’s death. They had direct contact with Jesus’s apostles – they were more closely connected to Jesus and that extremely strong connection was grounds for a stronger church, a stronger faith, and more astounding miracles.

I’d like to top off this blog post with an interesting thought…wouldn’t it be great if the Christian church could revert back to the way it used to be back in the early days? Wouldn’t it be nice if we were one, united, body of believers?

Why do you think the Christian church is no longer as strong as the church in the Book of Acts? Leave a comment.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

The Early Christian Church – How Strong Is Your Church?

Isn’t It Amazing!! Acts Chapter 3:1-9

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When I read Acts, chapter three, verses 1-9, the first words that pop into my mind are: isn’t it amazing?
What is the first thing that you think when you read the following scripture?

Acts 3
A Lame Man Healed
1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

I just finished reading Lee Strobel’s The Ambition. I’ll be posting a full review soon, but, wanted to point out that a series of events occur that’ll blow your mind – just like the above-mentioned scripture. Do miracles, such as described above, occur during modern times? If so, why don’t we hear more about these miracles? Do people keep quiet about these things for a reason?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

I Wish…

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Do you ever wish you could travel back in time for a little while just to see Jesus perform His miracles?
Sometimes, I wish that I could travel back in time, just for a few minutes, to just see Jesus, really see Him in the flesh, performing miracles….healing people. The following scripture really resonates with me because I have a blind husband. It’d be nice if he could see. Does Jesus have the power to heal right now? Of course He does, and I’ve heard of people getting healed miraculously…all by the power of Jesus. Why aren’t all believers healed? I don’t know! It’s just one of those mysteries to which we’ll never know the answer until we get to Heaven.

~Cecelia Dowdy~Two Blind Men Receive Their Sight

Matthew 20:29-34

29 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”
31 Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”
32 So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
33 They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” 34 So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

A Few Things….

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Well, it’s Sunday, May, 22, 2011 and there was NO RAPTURE YESTERDAY Camping needs to re-evaluate his Bible and stop making false prophesies!

I also wanted to announce that the winner of the Stephen Bly Book Giveaway is: JOY ISLEY – MESA, AZ

I’m still experimenting with the Amish Friendship Bread. I don’t have any friends who are bakers, so I don’t have anybody who’s interested in taking the extra starter from me. However, I developed a workaround for myself. When I split the first batch of starter, I merely placed the extra starters in the refrigerator and used them to bake – I did not feed them – I just used them as is – with the exception of the one I used yesterday. I fed that one but I didn’t feed it again on the tenth day nor did I split it. I used the entire 2 cups to make pancakes. I still have one bag of starter left from my original batch. Since I only have one left, I will feed this one on days six and ten, split on day ten and then I’ll have some to place in my refrigerator. So far, out of the recipes that I’ve tried, my favorites are the Amish Friendship Bread and the Banana Nut Amish Friendship Bread. I made the biscuits, but they didn’t turn out like I wanted. Also, I made the pancakes yesterday, but they were just “okay”. They were a bit too sour and you have to really watch the batter when you cook it on a griddle, it gets done very quickly and can burn. I believe it’s because of the sugar content in the Friendship Bread starter.

Any of you ever make Amish Friendship Bread, or a variation of it? If so, did you like it?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

May 21, 2011 – Judgment Day?

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Have you ever been involved with a religious group that spouted false prophesies? Did such prophesies alter your life?
Christian Radio Broadcaster Harold Camping, and his followers, are predicting that Judgment Day will occur on May 21, 2011. In the past, he also made a false prophesy for September 1994. As I’ve been driving to work each morning, I’ve been seeing homemade signs, made with white paint on wooden billboards, stating that Judgment Day is on May 21, 2011.

I say, BULL! I wish Camping would get a grip and remember the following scriptures:
Matthew 24:24 – 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
No One Knows the Day or Hour
Matthew 24:36-37 – 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Why is Camping doing this? He’s a false prophet and needs to stop! I guess I get emotional about this because I think of my days with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They didn’t predict days – they predicted years, and have been wrong every time. In my last dealings with them in college, they stated that the end would come BEFORE the generation of 1914 passed away…HUH? They “backed this claim up” with scriptures in a very convoluted way, taking pieces of one chapter/book of the Bible and meshing it with another piece. Soon, you had a hodgepodge of convoluted scripture to “support” this claim. When a JW came to my door a couple of years ago, I asked if they were still saying that Armageddon was coming before the generation of 1914 passed away. He and his wife said, “Oh, no. We changed the way we interpret generation. So, we don’t say that anymore.” Hmm. Just like the false prophecy of 1975, maybe? The JWs have said that nobody knows the day or the hour, so, I guess, in essence, they felt it was okay for them to predict the year, even if it was false?

At the time, this was their reasoning against higher education – the generation of 1914 would not pass away before we saw the end to this system of things? So, instead of pursuing higher education, we need to be warning people about the end of times?

Have you ever been involved with a religious group that spouted false prophesies? Did such prophesies alter your life?

~Cecelia Dowdy~