Category Archives: Biblical Musings

The Early Christians – More Thoughts

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Photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos

Do you think the early Christians had deeper faith than the present-day Christians?

I’ve been talking about the early Christians lately. The church was so much different back then – at least different from the churches of which I’ve been a member. The miracles that happened within the early church were truly amazing. I’d like to take this moment and share some scriptures that show clothing filled with God’s spirit. I blogged about this first scripture years ago, but, thought it’d be good to talk about again since this scripture pertains to the early Christians, mainly, the Apostle Paul:

Acts 19:11-12
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

That’s so cool, awesome and totally amazing! Can you imagine, an apron or handkerchief that had touched Paul could be taken to a sick person and the item could cure his/her illness and drive out evil spirits! Man….like, wow!!!

Paul’s miraculous miracles, stored in clothing items that he touched….

Wow!

I was talking to my husband about this last night and he reminded me of the following scripture – when the bleeding woman touched Jesus clothing and was healed:
Luke 8:43-48
43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
45 And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”
When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
46 But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” 47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.
48 And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

I would like to witness something like this happening myself. Yes, I do realize that it’s still possible for this to happen today, people can get healed, but, I wish I could travel in a time machine and go back to the days of Jesus and the Apostle Paul and witness these healings as descibed in the above-mentioned scriptures.

So, do you think the early Christians had deeper faith than the present-day Christians?

Leave a comment.

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~Cecelia Dowdy~

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?

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How strong is your church community? When I think about the faith and the miracles performed in the Early Christian Church, I wonder if there are communities out there that are as close-knit as the fellowship of believers in the book of Acts.
I’ve been a member of a few churches throughout the years. I’m finding that a lot of churches lack the closeness described for the Early Christians. However, one must remember that the Early Christians also communed together, ate meals together, and sold all of their possessions to provide for one another. Having a community like this, coupled with their deep faith, resulted in a strong Christian church.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Acts 2:41-47
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

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~

David And Saul

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Do any of you have any insight about the relationship between Saul and David in First Samuel chapters 16 and 17?
Why would Saul be friendly with David in Chapter 16, but then not recognize him in Chapter 17? If any of you have any insight, I’d like for you to comment.
1 Samuel 16:21-23 21 So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. 22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

I blogged about David and Goliath here. I recently received the following comment/question from Rita regarding that blog post (I’ve paraphrased and expanded Rita’s question):
I am in the middle of the Beth Moore bible study and have a question about the David and Goliath story. Before David killed Goliath (1 Samuel Chapter 16)he was in the service of Saul as his harp player. However, after David kills Goliath in the next chapter (1 Samuel Chapter 17) Saul asks who David is and Saul doesn’t recognize him. Any thoughts? This has troubled me while studying the life of David. Your Sister in Christ – Rita

Rita, I’ve left my response below. Not sure if this is helpful or not.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Hi, Rita. I’m glad that you stopped by Cecelia’s Christian Fiction Blog and commented. I tried to email you privately, but, your profile is marked private so I can’t see your email information. The only insight I can give regarding your question is, perhaps, although David was Saul’s harp player, perhaps some time had passed between the chapters and he no longer recognized David because he’d gotten older? Or, perhaps, he didn’t recognize David when he’d killed Goliath because he looked different – he may have looked brave and strong holding that decapitated head? I’m unfamiliar with Biblical history so, I’m not sure how often harp players interact with their superiors. I know David played the harp whenever the distressing spirits came upon Saul, to help him to feel better, and that Saul loved David, initially. So, it is puzzling as to why Saul didn’t recognize David after he killed Goliath. Your question is a valid one, I’m just afraid that I can’t provide much insight, but wish that I could. I’ll post your question on a blog entry to see if any of my blog readers know the answer.

For more insight into the relationship between Saul and David, as well as other little-known Bible facts, I encourage you to read Molly Noble Bull’s recent article on Writers’ Rest Blog. Stop by and leave a comment.

Locusts And Wild Honey?

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Locust photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos.

Matthew 3:4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

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Locusts and wild honey? I’ve always wondered about this. I wish there were more details. John The Baptist wandered around the wilderness dressed in a garment made with camel’s hair, preaching the gospel and he ate locusts and wild honey? I’m wondering if the locusts were alive when he ate them, or if he cooked them over a fire before eating? How does one eat a locust? I’m wondering how easy it was to gather the locusts and wild honey for his meals? If you have any knowledge about this, feel free to share. It just doesn’t sound like an appetizing diet to me. I’m thinking he had other things to eat, but it appears that he may have eaten the locusts and wild honey quite frequently?

~Cecelia Dowdy~