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Gleanings From The Word

Tag: Kevin Corbin

  • Halloween and Reformation Day

    Halloween and Reformation Day

    Today, October 31, marks at least three celebrations. The first  thought that comes to most people’s minds is probably Halloween.

    Halloween was originally a Christian celebration, known as All Hallows’ Eve, the night before All Hallows’ Day or All Saints’ Day. To hallow something is to celebrate its holiness.

    All Hallows Day marked the beginning of AllHallowtide, a period on the liturgical calendar to remember those who died in Christ, especially the martyrs and saints.

    In popular culture, it has degenerated into a celebration of death, the macabre, and the occult. Western civilization is becoming increasingly pagan in all aspects, but that’s a topic for another day.

    This evening, you might celebrate All Hallows’ Eve or perhaps Halloween, depending on your beliefs and traditions. There is yet a third celebration.

    You might want to celebrate Reformation Day. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses (topics for debate) to the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenberg, an event that symbolized the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

    Reformation Day remained unrecognized by the Roman Catholic Church around 2016, in time to commemorate the then-upcoming 500th anniversary of the event.

    Christians debate whether or not we should celebrate Halloween and that’s a matter for individual conscience.

    As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Romans 14:1-9

    Whatever you choose to celebrate this evening, or even if you choose not to celebrate at all, may you do so in good conscience and without judging those who chose something different.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    The World Changed on Reformation Day
    Read the Word. Read the Word. Read the Word.
    The Gospel – the best news you will ever hear

  • Who Is James?

    Who Is James?

    Icon of James the brother of Jesus

    Yesterday morning, I was reading in the Epistle of James. As  Kathy and I discussed what I had been reading, the question of “who was James?” arose.

    What does the Bible say?

    James is identified as one of Jesus’ brothers. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? (Matthew 13:55, see also Mark 6:3)

    Jesus’s brothers did not believe. After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jewswere seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him.  (John 6:1-5)

    Jesus appeared personally to James after His resurrection. “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” (1 Corinthians 15:7)

    He was a key player in the Jerusalem council when the issue of rules for gentile believers was debated. (Acts 15)

    Paul calls James an Apostle.  “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.” Galatians 1:18-19

    Paul also refers to him as a pillar in the early church. “…James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me; they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” Galatians 2:10

    James himself only identifies as a servant of Jesus. “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: (James 1:1)

    Church history tells us that James was the first leader of the church in Jerusalem, effectively its first pastor. That comes through in the pastoral concern for his flock that shows in his letter.

    Church history tells us that he was most likely stoned to death by the Jews in the early 60s AD, a fate shared by Stephen and other martyrs.

    For me, James is a marvelous example of the grace of Jesus. The Lord took a hardcore unbeliever and transformed him into a willing servant and leader. The Apostle Paul gets mentioned often for being a hardcore Christian hater who was converted, but let’s not forget that Paul was not the only one.

    I pray for all the hardcore disbelievers (of which I was one) to come to Christ and that their zeal for the enemy might be converted into zeal for the Lord.

    Praise the Lord that He can soften the hardest heart.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
    The Gospel – the best news you will ever hear
    Read the Word. Read the Word. Read the Word.