issue 16.2
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Glad TidingsTRANSCRIPT
Glad TidingsGlad TidingsGlad TidingsGlad Tidings
Volume 16, Issue 2 March/Apri l 2012
John 3:16 ESVJohn 3:16 ESV
“For God so loved the world, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him whoever believes in him should not perish but have should not perish but have
eternal lifeeternal life
2
Glad Tidings Glad Tidings Glad Tidings Glad Tidings is published six times per year by
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on your calendar!!on your calendar!!on your calendar!!on your calendar!!
Glad TidingsGlad TidingsGlad TidingsGlad Tidings
March/April 2012
Something To Consider ...................... p. 3
by Vince Finnegan
Seek Yahweh: Jewish Tradition ............ p. 4
by John Cortright
Pray To God The Father,
Not To Jesus His Son ............................ p. 6
by Blake Cortright
Raising Boys To Become Men .............. p.8
by Mary Ann Yaconis
Speaking In Tongues ............................. p.10
by Vince Finnegan
The Good Samaritan:
Jesus’ Challenge To Us Today .............. p.12
by Sean Finnegan
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3
T he struggles of life do not diminish as time moves on. If anything, they seem to increase. However, we still can enjoy a life of love, joy, and peace because Yahweh is our Father and
Jesus is our Lord. The spirit of truth and the Word of God aid us as we walk in newness of life. We
also have the awesome privilege of prayer knowing our Father will help.
Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Prayer is the manifestation of humility, and humility is our only proper attitude. The humble one
acknowledges he is not sufficient of himself, but his sufficiency is of God (Luke 18:9-14). A
reverential mind-set is essential with all prayer. God is worthy of our profound adoring, awe, and
respect (Deuteronomy 10:17; I Chronicles 29:10-13; Psalm 145:1-3, 8-14). When we pray, we do so to
God in the name of Jesus Christ (John 14:13 and 14; 15:16; 16:23 and 24). We do not pray to Jesus. We cannot be certain that God will answer our every request when we pray because sometimes we ask
for things that are not available or profitable. Nevertheless, we can have great confidence He will hear
and answer the prayers that are written in the Scriptures, the things He encourages us to ask for (1 John
5:14 and 15). The following biblical prayers are offered for your consideration.
God’s knowledge and wisdom Ephesians 1:16-23
Understanding His Word Psalm 119
Forgiveness Psalm 51; Matthew 6:9-13
Strength and love Ephesians 3:14-21
Discernment Philippians 1:9-11
Patience and long suffering Colossians 1:9-12
Holy living 1Thessalonians 3:12 and 13
Ministry of reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Ephesians 6:18-20
For the saints Romans 8:26 and 27
Spiritual elders Ephesians 6:18-20
Those in bonds Hebrews 13:3; Matthew 25:34-40
Civil authority 1Timothy 2:1-8
God bless you,
Vince
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER
4
2T imothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; The Scriptures are inspired by
God. Our doctrine, which holds
the principles upon which we
base our faith, should come from
Scripture. Through the years,
men have added many traditions
in Christian and Jewish practice,
which are not necessarily biblical.
Sometimes these traditions do
not impair right practice and
actually may enhance one’s
relationship with God. However,
many times, these traditions can
put unnecessary bondage on a
person of faith and, in some
instances, actually contradict the
commandment of God. Jesus had
this issue with the religious
leaders of his day and time.
Matthew 15:1-3, 8-9 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
`THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. `BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.`”
The Jewish sect of the Pharisees
held to traditions that were in
contradiction to the command-
ment of God. This same sect of
rabbinical Pharisees continued
after the time of Jesus and the
destruction of the temple in 70
AD. Moreover, it is from this sect
that modern rabbinical Judaism
developed. These oral traditions
were written down in the Mishnah
and the Talmud, hundreds of years
after the time of Christ.
By 500 AD, one tradition that
developed, and is still entrenched
in Jewish thought today, is
regarding the name of God.
Today, Jews will not write or say
God’s name, according to its
Hebrew letters – hwhy (YHWH).
Rather, they say the words
“Adonay” or “Ha Shem” (the
name). However, no commandment
from the Torah (the first five
books of Moses) or any of the
other Hebrew Scriptures prohibit
a person from speaking or writing
God’s name, hwhy (YHWH).
Three biblical texts are used to try
and support not using or not saying
God’s name. They are Exodus 20:7,
Leviticus 24:16, and Amos 6:10.
Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD [YHWH] your God in vain…. Leviticus 24:16 Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD [YHWH] shall surely be put to death;…. Amos 6:10b Then he will answer, "Keep quiet. For the name of the LORD [YHWH] is not to be mentioned."
In the case of Exodus 6:10, the
meaning is understood right in
the verse – “You will not take the
name of the LORD [YHWH] in
vain.” This is one of the Ten
Commandments. This is not a
verse about speaking or writing
the name, but rather it is about
using the name of God
inappropriately. The word “vain”
m e a n s “ e m p t i n e s s , ”
“nothingness,” or “for no good
purpose.” The people of God are
not to use the name of YHWH
with no purpose nor use it in a
demeaning, unholy, disrespectful
way. To use the name of God in
cursing would certainly fall into
this category as well. The name
of God, YHWH, should be used
with respect and reverence.
However, to remove His name
completely, never to speak His
name, and to restrict the use of
God’s name for any reason are not
(Continued on page 5)
Seek Yahweh: Jewish Tradition By John Cortright
5
indicated in this third
commandment. That tradition
is not part of the written
Torah, but rather came into
practice at a much later time
in history.
The context of Leviticus
24:16 starts in verse 10 and
records an event in which
one Israelite, who had an
Israelite mother and an
Egyptian father, got into a
struggle with another man of
Israel. During this strife, the son
blasphemed and cursed the name.
Moses then sought guidance from
God. God instructed Moses to
have this son stoned to death.
Then verse 16 states anyone who
blasphemes the name of the Lord
(YHWH) is to be put to death. The
meaning of the Hebrew word
“blaspheme” means to curse.
Clearly, this man broke the third
commandment by taking the
name of God in vain. Again, this is
not a command to restrict
speaking or writing the name of
God universally, but rather it was
dealing with a specific incident in
which God’s name was used
inappropriately. Interestingly, the
Greek Septuagint renders this
verse as “he who names the name
of the Lord, let him die the death.”
This seems quite different from
“blaspheming” the name. Perhaps
such a translation in the Greek Old
Testament influenced later rabb-
inical traditions about uttering the
name. However, even in the
Septuagint, the context from
verse 11 clearly shows this
instance of using the name
involved cursing.
Finally, the context of Amos 6:10
is a prophetic story about two
men who have come to bury the
bones of relatives who had been
burned in a house and apparently
were punished by YHWH. When
they go to bury these bones, they
are told not to mention the name
of YHWH. According to Anderson
and Freedman, this phrase
probably refers to normal funeral
rites, which include invoking
YHWH’s blessing on the dead. This
normal procedure should not be
used in this instance. God had
judged His people, and it would be
inappropriate to mourn after the
usual custom.1 Also, Sean
McDonough points out in his
book, YHWH at Patmos, that
“Amos 6:10 is not introduced in
later Judaism as a ‘proof-text’ for
supporting the prohibition against
saying the name.”2
The Old Testament has more than
6,000 uses of YHWH, and these
are the only three texts utilized to
give reasons where using the
name would be banned. Yet,
these verses are not about not
using, writing, or saying the name
of YHWH; rather, they are about
using the name of YHWH
improperly, inappropriately,
at the wrong occasion, or
using it in a demeaning way.
To take the name of YHWH in
vain or to blaspheme the
name of YHWH is far different
than writing, translating, or
saying the name of YHWH.
However, several verses do
indicate God wanted His
name to be made known.
There are countless verses
about declaring, singing, and
praising the name of YHWH.
Yet, in Judaism today, the
name is considered too holy to be
uttered; therefore, mentioning
the name is restricted. How did
this happen?
A study of Judaism in early New
Testament times reveal that the
name YHWH was still being
written and still used at the time
Christ. There are indications that
certain practices, restrictions, and
surrogates for YHWH had started
to make their way into usage in
the First Century but not the
wholesale removal as is in today’s
Jewish culture. These will be
explored in future articles.
Today, in Jewish tradition, the
name of God is not written or
spoken. Is the practice a comm.-
andment from God, or rather is it
a tradition derived from the
dictates of men? May each of us
seek the LORD God and find Him
as we seek Him with all our heart
and soul. �
(Continued from page 4)
Today, Jews will not write or say
God’s name,...hwhy (YHWH).
...However, no commandment...prohibit
a person from speaking or writing
God’s name, hwhy (YHWH).
2 McDonough, Sean, YHWH at Patmos, (by
J.C.B Mohr, P.O. Box 2040, D-72010 Tubin-
gen, Printed in Germany, 1999) p.65.
1 F.I. Anderson and D.N. Freedman, Amos,
AB (New York: Doubleday, 1989), pp 572-4.
6
P rayer is central to the
Christian faith; yet,
human traditions have clouded
the biblical understanding of
prayer. Christians are exhorted
to “pray without ceasing”/
(I Thessalonians 5:17, English
Standard Version) and to pray
“at all times in the
Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). How-
ever, to whom are the children
of God to pray? In my experi-
ence, I have found more and
more people praying to Jesus
and less people praying to the
Father. Was this the teaching
of our Lord?
It is difficult to pinpoint a time
in history when a doctrine of
praying to Jesus, rather than
the Father, began. This prac-
tice emerged over the years.
Yet today, praying to Jesus is
commonplace in mainstream
Christianity. Phrases including
“God-Jesus,” “Father-Jesus,”
and other extra-biblical termi-
nology have found their way
into the prayers of modern day
Christians.
In Luke 11:1, the disciples said
to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to
pray.” Jesus said,
“When you pray,
say: “Father, hallowed
be Your name”/
(Luke 11:2). An un-
fortunate side effect
of praying to Jesus
instead of to his
Father is the shift in
focus from glorifying
God to glorifying His
Son. Jesus always
pleased his Father.
He said, “He who sent me is
with me. He has not left me
alone, for I always do the
things that are pleasing to
Him” (John 8:29). “My food is
to do the will of Him who sent
me to accomplish His
work” (John 4:34). Jesus fo-
cused on giving glory to God
his Father.
Jesus is praised in modern
churches more often than the
Father. While Scripture clearly
teaches us that Jesus, the
lamb, is worthy of praise
(Revelation 5:12), it also is
clear that we are to do all
things to the glory of God
(I Corinthians 10:31). Jesus
reflects the glory of God, but
the Father’s glory is greater
than the Son’s. Misunder-
standing this causes a mis-
placement of whom to glorify.
A friend of mine told me, “I
pray to Jesus when I need
compassion and not a scolding
from my Father.” This thought
process comes from the
cultural understanding of Jesus
as a loving, caring Lord and of
his Father as a wrathful, “Old
Testament” God. Yet, in
Exodus 34, the attributes of
Yahweh, the Father, are listed
− He is “merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding
in steadfast love and faithful-
ness, keeping steadfast love for
thousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin”/
(Exodus 34:6-7). The Father is
very compassionate. He loved
the world so much that He sac-
rificed His only Son for the sins
of the world (John 3:16).
In the famous “Lord’s prayer,”
Jesus provides not a vain repe-
titious prayer (Matthew 6:7),
but rather a breakdown of the
essence of prayer. “Father,
hallowed be Your name. Your
kingdom come, Your will be
done, on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread, and forgive us our
debts, as we also have forgiven
our debtors. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us
from evil” (Matthew 6:9-13).
In the opening line, Jesus
acknowledges that he is
addressing his Father, and
then he makes mention of the
holiness of God’s name,
Yahweh. “Hallowed be Your
name.” This prayer suggests
that we are to pray to the
Father. Our prayers should
glorify Him.
Those who pray to Jesus do so,
leaning upon a few verses.
The verse “whatever you ask in
my name, this I will do” (John
14:13) is used to suggest that
we ought to pray to Jesus.
Also, the verse “Jesus said to
him, ‘I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes to
(Continued on page 7)
Pray to God Pray to God Pray to God Pray to God
the Father, the Father, the Father, the Father,
Not to Jesus Not to Jesus Not to Jesus Not to Jesus
His SonHis SonHis SonHis Son By Blake Cortright
7
the Father except through
me’” (John 14:6) has been
used to support praying to
Jesus, because no one can
come before the Father except
through the Son. People who
pray to Jesus, however, often
use extra-biblical terminology
when praying to him. They
attribute to Jesus titles which
belong to the Father: “Father
God Jesus,” “Everlasting Jesus,”
“Jesus Almighty,” and so forth.
God, the Father, is referred to
as everlasting and almighty,
but Jesus is not.
Acts 7:59 and Revelation 22:20
are used as arguments for
praying to Jesus. “And as they
were stoning Stephen, he
called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit’ ” (Acts 7:59). “He
who testifies to these things
says, ‘Surely I am coming
soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord
Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). The
belief is that in both of these
instances, followers of Christ
are praying to the Son instead
of to the Father. However,
there is a difference between
these verses and prayers
recorded in Scripture, such as
Ephesians 3:14-21. In Acts, it
says of Stephen, “but he, full of
the Holy Spirit, gazed into
heaven and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing at the
right hand of God. And he
said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of
God’ ” (Acts 7:55-56). This is
the only record where Jesus is
seen “standing at the right
hand of God.” Stephen called
out to his Savior whom he saw
at the throne of God. He was
not praying; rather, he was
calling to the one he saw. In
Revelation 22, John follows a
similar pattern. He addresses
the one to whom he is speak-
ing. “I, Jesus, have sent my
angel to testify to you about
these things for the churches”/
(Revelation 22:16). This verse
establishes that Jesus, through
the angel, is the speaker in this
section. “He who testifies to
these things says, ‘Surely I am
coming soon.’ Amen. Come,
Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
In this verse, John is not pray-
ing, but rather he is responding
to the speaker.
Jesus taught his disciples
“Whatever you ask in my name,
this will I do, that the Father
may be glorified in the
Son” (John 14:13). All that Je-
sus did in his earthly ministry,
and all that he now does, is to
the glory of his Father, God.
Paul wrote, “For there is one
God, and there is one mediator
between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5).
This verse makes plain the
relationship between Father
and Son and clearly shows
Jesus’ place in our prayers. He
mediates between the Father
and our unholy selves. Jesus is
the only way to the Father. No
unholy human can come to the
Father but through Jesus who
is seated at God’s right hand.
In prayer, Paul always ad-
dressed the Father. “For this
reason I bow my knees before
the Father, from whom every
family in heaven and earth is
named...to Him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations,
forever and ever. Amen”/
(Ephesians 3:14-21). In his let-
ter to the church at Colossi,
Paul writes, “We always thank
God, the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, when we pray for
you,” (Colossians 1:3). The
prayers found in the Epistles of
Paul are all addressed to God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
The Didache shows that pray-
ing to the Father continued
into the second century
church. This ancient document
of Church history describes the
proper way to pray during a
communion known as Eucha-
rist. “Now concerning the
Eucharist, give thanks as
follows, ‘We give you thanks,
our Father, for the holy vine of
David your servant, which you
have made known to us
through Jesus, your servant;
to you be the glory
forever’” (Lightfoot and Harmer
(Continued from page 6)
(Continued on page 9)
8
Raising Boys To Become Men By Mary Ann Yaconis
O ur home has had a
new resident for the
past year. He is a two-year old,
80 plus pound, black Lab-
Shepherd mix. My relationship is
much different with this dog than
one that we owned years ago.
When our boys were young, we
had an 11 pound Bichon Frise
that was a sweet, happy dog that
I did not discipline − because I
wanted her to “love me.”
Instead, she ruled me.
Today, after taking our new
dog out for a run in the
back yard, I marveled at
how I was not afraid to dis-
cipline the dog even when
he tried to jump at me to
play (that means a running
cross-body block at chest
level). I was able to stop
him and make him lie down
to show who was alpha dog
and not to jump at “Grandma.”
A flash from the past reminded
me that I could not tell my small
dog to stop anything. I wondered
what in me has made the differ-
ence. Why am I able to be mas-
ter over this big dog with teeth
the size of my fingers and not the
little dog with a pink scarf and
bows at the ears?
Everything boiled down to one
thing – the need for love. I
needed the little dog to love me,
and I thought giving in to every-
thing she wanted would make
her want to be nice to me. Misty
never did bite me, but she was
not obedient. For example, I
would let her lie on the clean
clothes in the laundry basket, and
then I would have to rewash them
because I couldn’t tell her “no”
because she was so cute. Today, I
am able to stop our big dog from
getting on furniture, to tell him to
go to his bed when we eat, stop
running around, to come, sit, and
lay down. The dog likes me, and
he obeys. It feels good.
With our small dog, my husband
was the one who could call for
her to come in the house from
the yard, and she would make a
beeline for the house. In con-
trast, I had to go out and get her.
At times, I would want to be
indulgent with our boys, but my
husband would put me in check
and not let me “over mother”
them. For this, I am very thankful.
Mothers mistakenly may tend to
want to keep their children from
all of life’s hurts and need their
love to fill a place inside that is
not the child’s to fill. A strong,
godly husband tempers this
natural desire in a mother to over
-mother, especially with sons.
The culture of the Israelites was
that the mother raised the son
until he was weaned. That
meant that he was able to care
for himself and was usually any-
where from 6 to 10 years of age.
As an example, we turn to Han-
nah who was the mother of the
prophet Samuel. After much
earnest prayer, Yahweh blessed
Hanna with her first son.
I Samuel 1:20, 24 It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, say-ing, “Because I have asked him of the LORD.” Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a
jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young.
She taught, trained, and nurtured
him until he was able to go work
for the prophet Eli. This meant he
could take care of himself and Eli
as well as manage the duties at
the tabernacle. Not much is said
about how Hannah raised him, but
obviously from his life, we see that
Samuel had a deep love and
respect for Yahweh, was able to
get up early, put in a full day and
possibly night of work, and obey
Eli’s and God’s instructions.
(Continued on page 9)
“Our purpose as parents is to
raise sons that will flourish
with God,….”
9
259-61). The prayer continues for sev-
eral lines with this pattern of glorifying
God the Father and thanking Him for
Jesus the Christ. Thus, we see that the
early church believed they should to
pray to the Father, not the Son.
The third century Christian scholar
and martyr Origen taught that Chris-
tians ought not pray to the Son, but
rather that they should pray to the
Father. He wrote, “Now if we are to
take prayer in its most exact sense,
perhaps we should not pray to any-
one begotten, not even to Christ Him-
self, but only to the God and Father
of all, to whom even our Savior Him-
self prayed... and to whom He taught
us to pray” (Greer 112). His argument
continues, “it follows that prayer
should be addressed to the Son and
not to the Father, or to both, or to
the Father alone. Anyone...would
agree that the first possibility...is
completely absurd, and would have
to be maintained against the obvious
facts. And if we prayed to both, then
it is obvious that we should offer our
requests in the plural...the very
expressions betray the absurdity of
this alternative, nor can anyone find
in Scripture prayers addressed in the
plural. Consequently, the remaining
possibility is that we should pray only
to the God and Father of all”/
(112-13). Origen believed Jesus was
God, but still he held the belief that
the followers of Christ should pray to
the Father, not to the Son.
Modern day Christians should chal-
lenge the traditions of praying to
Jesus and praising him more than his
Father, a thing he never taught. We
should follow the teaching of the one
whom we call our Lord. He taught us
to pray to the Father. He did every-
thing to God’s glory. He always did his
Father’s will. So too we, if we call
ourselves followers of Christ, should
pray to the Father, in the name of His
Son, Jesus the Christ.
The Apostolic Fathers Second Edition.
Trans. J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer.
Grand Rapids, Baker Book House,
1992. Print.
English Standard Version. [Wheaton]:
Crossway, 2011.
EsvBible.org. Web. Sept. 2011.
Origen: An Exhortation to Martyr-
dom, Prayer and Selected Works.
Trans. Rowan A. Greer.
New York: Paulist Press, 1979. Print.�
(Continued from page 7)
Pray to God the Father, Not to Pray to God the Father, Not to Pray to God the Father, Not to Pray to God the Father, Not to Jesus His Son Continued...Jesus His Son Continued...Jesus His Son Continued...Jesus His Son Continued...
Incredibly, at such a young age and
throughout his life, he was able to
stand apart from the evil that was
happening in the tabernacle and in
Israel.
Can you imagine raising a son
today that would be able to care
for himself and someone else by
age 7 – and not get caught up in
doing bad things because his class-
mates are doing them? It boggles
the mind. In the culture of the Isra-
elites, they were generally married
at middle teen years and caring for
their extended families. What our
culture today has become is an
enabling culture, steered by well
meaning parents, that is stealing
from our male children the ability
to function as godly men. Not all,
but a large share of the trouble lies
at the feet of mothers who won’t
treat their sons as men and emo-
tionally let them go at an early age
and of fathers who do not make
the time or have the capacity to
teach maleness to their sons. For a
father, this means teaching and
training his son and making sure
that his wife is not coddling their
son too long.
I Samuel 1:26-28 She said, “Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD. “For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my peti-tion which I asked of Him. “So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there. Hannah also knew that her son was
not hers but God’s. Her purpose
was to train him to love God and
be obedient to Him – and let him
go to do a man’s work.
What is the difference in me now
with our new dog? The difference
between my actions now and how
they were years ago comes from
understanding that the dog isn’t
mine to give me what I need. My
needs are met by Yahweh. My
healthy relationship with this dog
comes from doing my part in mak-
ing him obey and teaching him how
to be a good dog. Extrapolating
this out to myself as a young
mother, my husband tempered me,
and we raised boys to become
men. Our purpose as parents is to
raise sons that will flourish with
God, possibly raise a Yahweh fear-
ing family, and teach and train oth-
ers to do the same. A godly son
gives his mother honor. Her blessing
comes as he takes his place as a man
who loves God. �
(Continued from page 8)
10
T he gift of holy spirit
has with it many
manifestations that
are available to assist every be-
liever in his or her walk with God
and service to man. The epistle
of 1 Corinthians mentions nine
of these manifestations. The
translators of the English Bibles
did not acknowledge a differ-
ence of words used in the Greek
manuscripts that are important
to our understanding about
speaking in tongues. The distinc-
tion of words draws our atten-
tion and warrants examination.
Note the Greek words used in
the parenthesis.
1Corinthians 12:8-10 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit, and to another [allos] the word of knowledge accord-ing to the same spirit; to another [heteros] faith by the same spirit, and to another [allos] gifts of heal-ing by the one spirit, and to another [allos] the effecting of miracles, and to another [allos] prophecy, and to another [allos] the distinguishing of spirits, to another [heteros] various kinds of tongues, and to another [allos] the interpreta-tion of tongues.
Speaking in tongues and faith
are set off from the other seven.
Why? First, we will see what all
nine have in common. The one
gift of holy spirit is common to
every believer; therefore, all
manifestations are from the
same spirit. Free will or self-
determination is required to
manifest each. The spirit and all
of its manifestations enable
disciples to engage in loving
service to their fellowman. The
manifestations enable us to
serve under the empowerment
and direction of our Lord.
The two have some differences
from the other seven. Proper
circumstances must exist in
order to manifest the seven. For
example, to prophesy, there
must be others present to hear;
to heal, there must be a sick per-
son; to discern spirits, a demon-
ized person is needed. Thus,
these requirements limit the
utilization of these manifesta-
tions. Faith and tongues are
unlimited because only God and
the believer need to be involved.
We can exercise tongues and
faith any time we will to do so;
whereas, this is not necessarily
so with the other manifestations
of the spirit. The most signifi-
cant difference is that faith and
tongues are specifically purposed
to glorify God.
Romans 4:20 and 21(KJV) He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory giving glory giving glory giving glory to Godto Godto Godto God; And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) But without faith without faith without faith without faith it is it is it is it is impos-impos-impos-impos-sible to please sible to please sible to please sible to please HimHimHimHim: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
Abraham was not a priest or a
king; he did not write any of the
books in the Bible; he did not
prophesy about the future; he
did not build a city or lead a peo-
ple; yet, of all men, he is the
only one called a friend of God.
He is considered to be the father
of faith, the father of all those
who believe. His primary accom-
plishment was he pleased and
glorified God by his faith. Our
faith always glorifies and pleases
God. Speaking in tongues is very
similar to faith in that it also glo-
rifies and pleases God.
When Jesus spoke to the woman
at the well, she asked a very
important question. She said
"Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain, and you people say
that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship."
The remarkable response Jesus
gave is recorded in John 4:21-24.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
(Continued on page 11)
Speaking In TonguesSpeaking In TonguesSpeaking In TonguesSpeaking In Tongues By Vince FinneganBy Vince FinneganBy Vince FinneganBy Vince Finnegan
11
“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
As Jesus so often did, he fore-
told what would take place
when the spirit of truth
arrived. Once Jesus
ascended into heaven
and sent forth the
spirit, the worship of
God radically changed.
The spirit within pro-
vides the ability to wor-
ship God in spirit and
truth. Speaking in
tongues is one means
to worship God in spirit,
not the only way, but a
very significant way.
On the day of Pentecost,
recorded in Acts 2:11, when
the spirit was first given, all the
Apostles spoke in tongues.
Those who were there listen-
ing to them stated — “We hear
them in our own tongues
speaking of the mighty deeds
of God,” or as the King James
says, “We hear them speak the
wonderful works of God.” In
Acts 10, when the Jews with
Peter heard Cornelius and the
others speak in tongues, they
said the tongues were
“exalting God” and in the KJV
“magnifying God.” Speaking in
tongues are God inspired
words that glorify God! Under-
standing is added in Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 14:2 For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.
When we speak in tongues,
we do so to God and not to
men. The person who speaks
does not understand what he
is saying, but God does
understand as the utterance
is inspired by the spirit of
God. Speaking in tongues is
prayer that blesses God. It is
prayer that gives thanks well.
1 Corinthians 14:14-17 For if I pray in a tonguepray in a tonguepray in a tonguepray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise if you bless in bless in bless in bless in
the spiritthe spiritthe spiritthe spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the "Amen" at your giving of your giving of your giving of your giving of thanksthanksthanksthanks, since he does not know what you are saying? For you are giving thanks you are giving thanks you are giving thanks you are giving thanks wellwellwellwell enough, but the other person is not edified.
Here is a summary of what we
have just read: speaking in
tongues and faith are different
from the other manifestations
in that both are something just
between you and God.
Speaking in tongues is
inspired utterance which
speaks about the mighty
deeds of God, His won-
derful works. It exalts
and magnifies God.
Prayer that blesses God
and gives thanks well is
also included.
Whenever someone uses
their words to speak well
of God, to bless Him or
offer prayers of thanks, God is
glorified and pleased. Many
times our words fail to prolifi-
cally communicate the praise,
glory, and thanks we desire to
offer to our loving heavenly
Father. Speaking in tongues
assists us greatly in our weak-
ness by providing another
means to glorify our God. The
greatest thing we can ever do,
as our father Abraham did, is
to glorify and please God. If
there was no other reason
save to glorify and please God,
speaking in tongues is some-
thing every believer should
desire to do. �
(Continued from page 10)
12
C ountless hospitals across
the nation bear the name
“Good Samaritan,” all a tribute to
Jesus’ masterful parable about the
injured traveler. So ubiquitous is
this story that it has become a cliché
to call someone who helps another
“a good Samaritan.” Yet, as with so
many sayings of Jesus, the more
popular it became, the more it was
domesticated and dulled so that it
no longer presents a challenge to us.
Like cereal left sitting in milk too
long, the good Samaritan today
communicates the soggy, tepid
truth that we should occasionally
help the needy if it is not too much
trouble. Furthermore, the com-
mand of Jesus to love ones’
neighbor as oneself remains
divorced from the story, as if the
two were unrelated. We forget that
Jesus’ little story is intended to illus-
trate and set a standard for how his
followers neighbor others. In what
follows, we will make our way
through the parable, paying careful
attention to the historical context in
order to recalibrate our senses and
learn how best to live this out today.
The passage opens with an expert in
the Law of Moses putting Jesus—
the up and coming rabbi—to the
test. Although we cannot be sure
how innocent or malicious the
lawyer was, we know that he
already knew the answer to the
question he asked Jesus, or at least
he thought he did. He pops the
question, “Teacher, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25).
Rather than answering him outright,
Jesus replies with his own query,
“What has been written in the Law?
How do you read it?” (v26). This put
the scribe on the spot: if he wanted
to defend his expert knowledge of
the Scriptures, he needed to an-
swer, but by answering he loses his
opportunity to hear Jesus’ reply. In
the end, he decided to respond by
quoting part of the Shema, the core
creed of Judaism (Deuteronomy 6:4-
5), “You will love the Lord your God
from your whole heart and in your
whole soul and in your whole
strength and in your whole mind.”
Then he added a well-known text
from Leviticus 19:18, “and your
neighbor as yourself” (v27). Recog-
nizing the validity of the man’s
answer, Jesus said, “You answered
correctly; do this and you will
live” (v28). Ironically, rather than
checking out Jesus’ orthodoxy and
biblical knowledge, the reverse hap-
pened—Jesus ended up testing the
lawyer and approving his answer. I
imagine the lawyer was a bit bewil-
dered and frustrated by the sudden
turn of events. Luke reports that
the man’s next question was moti-
vated by a desire to justify himself.
He had stood up and gone toe to
toe with the new teacher, and he
probably felt embarrassed before
his peers who were listening. Now
another question formed in his
mind, one likely influenced by his
vast experience in exegeting Scrip-
ture and contemplating the practical
application of Torah to daily life. He
asked, “And who is my
neighbor?” (v29).
In order to understand why he
asked this clarifying follow-up ques-
tion, we need to turn to the book of
Leviticus. Gaining some context
proves helpful:
Leviticus 19:17-18 `You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. `You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. The “love your neighbor as yourself”
commandment was construed eth-
nically—one must love his fellow
Israelite. The chapter begins with
Moses speaking to “all the congre-
gation of the people of Israel” and
telling them to be holy as God is.
Throughout Leviticus, it is clear that
God intends Israel to remain sepa-
rate from the other nations, espe-
cially her immediate neighbors.
Thus, the lawyer posing this ques-
tion to Jesus is capitalizing on a
genuine ambiguity in the text—one
that no doubt puzzled the theologi-
ans of his day. The minimalist
answer saw the neighbor as a fellow
Torah-observant Jew, whereas the
maximalist sought to extend love to
everyone. Where would Jesus fall
on this question? Would he grasp
the complexity of the issue? Would
he provide a half-way satisfying
answer easily rebutted by a trained
scribe? Jesus decided not to answer
directly; instead, he told a story to
illustrate his point.
(Continued on page 13)
The Good The Good The Good The Good Samaritan: Samaritan: Samaritan: Samaritan:
Jesus’ Jesus’ Jesus’ Jesus’
Challenge Challenge Challenge Challenge
to Us Todayto Us Todayto Us Todayto Us Today By Sean Finnegan
13
Jesus begins, “A man was going
down from Jerusalem to Jericho and
fell among bandits, who after both
stripping and beating him departed,
leaving him half dead” (Luke 10:30).
Bandits were a real problem in the
ancient world. Often, when making
long journeys, people traveled
together in a caravan for protection.
This man was alone, and he was
traveling a treacherous road infa-
mous for the dangers it posed. It
was a rocky and winding desert road
that began in Jerusalem at 2,600
feet above sea level and descended
to Jericho at 825 feet below sea
level in a mere seventeen miles.
Furthermore, caves lined many
parts of the road which provided
robbers with ideal hideouts to plun-
der unsuspecting passersby. This
unfortunate man was outnumbered
and taken for all he had, even his
clothing. In a world without cell
phones or ambulances, his fate
wholly depended on a chance
encounter with someone who was
willing to help. All of this would
have been familiar to Jesus’ hearers,
and they may have even anticipated
the next line.
Jesus continued, “And by chance a
priest went down on that
way” (v31). The priest is an ideal
candidate for a man to show com-
passion and do what is right in the
eyes of God. Priests were profes-
sional worship facilitators who
offered sacrifices in the inner court-
yard of the temple precinct. They
were mediators, and Jesus’ audi-
ence likely expected this man to
intercede for the wounded in God’s
name. Yet, Jesus inverts his role
saying, “And seeing him he passed
by on the other side” (v31). No rea-
son is given for the priest’s callused
negligence. We are left guessing
what he must have told himself to
soothe his conscience and justify his
blatant disregard for a wounded
stranger. Perhaps he was in a
hurry—maybe even to do some-
thing for God. Did he fear contami-
nation from touching a dead body?
Was he worried that the robbers
might still be around? Did he think
the man was faking it to set up an
ambush? We simply don’t know; all
we are told is that he passed by on
the other side. Next, the Levite
arrives on the scene: “And likewise a
Levite going down to the place and
seeing him passed by on the other
side” (v32). Like priests, Levites too
were servants of God, but they were
not permitted to do as much as the
priests and were more like assis-
tants. Still, Levites were revered,
and so this man’s flagrant lack of
care for his fellow traveler would
have shocked the hearers.
Enter the Samaritan: “And a Samari-
tan journeying came upon
him” (v33). By the time of Jesus,
deep-seated animosity had brewed
between Jews and Samaritans for
centuries, sometimes erupting in
outright violence. They were sworn
enemies who avoided one another,
each regarding the other as hereti-
cal. The Samaritans only accepted
the first five books of the Hebrew
Bible, the Torah, as inspired. They
believed the monarchy was a
mistake and David’s beloved city
along with Solomon’s ornate temple
was illegitimate. They clung to
mount Gerizim, the lofty peak
where Moses commanded the
blessings to be pronounced once
the Israelites entered the Promised
Land (Deuteronomy 11:29; 27:12;
Joshua 8:33). Later, they built a
temple there and worshipped on
Mt. Gerizim instead of Jerusalem
(John 4:20). A little more than a
century before Christ (128 B.C.), the
priest-king John Hyrcanus con-
quered Samaria for Judah and
destroyed their temple in the proc-
ess. By the first century, Herod the
Great’s impressive renovations to
the Jerusalem temple stirred disdain
among the Samaritans whose own
temple lay in ruins atop what they
regarded as the true holy place.
Samaria lay between Judah and
Galilee, so when Galilean Jews made
pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusa-
lem, they had to either go through
Samaria or walk the long way
around it. Most Jews chose to
travel the extra distance to avoid
the despised Samaritans. In one
incident, Jesus went through
Samaria on his way to attend a festi-
val at the temple. He sent ahead
messengers to make arrangements
for him in a Samaritan village. They
refused to receive him “because his
face was set toward Jerusa-
lem” (Luke 9:53). Jesus’ disciples
asked, “Lord, do you wish that we
call fire to come down out of
heaven and consume them?” (v54).
Jesus rebuked them, and they
resumed their journey.
The Jews likewise despised the
Samaritans, calling them Cutheans
(whose blood was not really Israelite
in origin but Gentile from Cuthah in
Persian).1 They libeled them as
turncoats who vacillated between
identifying as Jews or Gentiles
(Continued from page 12)
(Continued on page 14)
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14
depending on who was asking.2
In
the Samaritan town of Sychar, Jesus
surprised a woman at Jacob’s well
by asking her for a drink of water.
John helpfully explains with the
editorial note, “For Jews do not use
anything in common with Samari-
tans” (John 4:9). Even just asking for
a sip of water from her drinking
vessel was crossing the line. So
much did the Jews despise the
Samaritans that they considered
eating with them the same as
eating the flesh of a pig and any
contact with a Samaritan female
as contaminating as touching a
menstruating woman.3 Given
this complicated and spiteful
history, Jews hearing a story
about a Samaritan would natu-
rally expect him to do some-
thing wicked. At best, he might
pass by on the other side like
his two forerunners; at worst,
he would take advantage of the
wounded man and finish the
job the bandits only halfway
completed.
Again Jesus violates expectation by
inverting the role of the Samaritan.
He narrates, “And a Samaritan jour-
neying came upon him and seeing
him felt compassion, and approach-
ing he bound his wounds, pouring
oil and wine on them. Having put
him upon his own animal, he
brought him to an inn and cared for
him. And when he was departing on
the next day, he gave the inn keeper
two denarii and said, ‘Take care of
him, and what more you may spend
I will pay you when I return’”/
(Luke 10:33-35). Not only does the
Samaritan feel compassion, but
immediately jumps in and does eve-
rything he possibly can to help. He
pours oil on his wounds to soothe
them, disinfects them with wine,
and then binds him with his own
fabric (perhaps torn from his turban
or tunic). Putting him on his own
animal likely meant the Samaritan
would have to walk the rest of the
way. Upon arriving at the inn, he
does not drop the man off, leaving
him at the mercy of the inn keeper,
but spends the night caring for him.
He gives the keeper two days’
wages, which according to Darrell
Bock, would have provided lodging
for up to twenty-four days.4 Even at
today’s minimum wage, this would
amount to over a hundred dollars.
And what is more, he is willing to
pay any further expenses accrued
for the stranger’s recovery. The
Samaritan does not merely assuage
his own guilt by doing the minimum
to insure the half-dead man’s blood
would not be on his head, he does
everything possible to meet the
man’s needs genuinely and compe-
tently regardless of the inconven-
ience or the cost. M.L. King Jr. was
right to note that rather than asking,
“If I stop to help this man, what will
happen to me?” like the priest and
the Levite, the Samaritan said to
himself, “If I do not stop to help this
man, what will happen to him?”5
Next Jesus asks, “Who of these
three appears to you to be a
neighbor to the one who fell among
bandits?” (v36). The man responded,
“The one who had compassion on
him” (v36). And Jesus said to him,
“Go and you do likewise” (v36).
Needless to say, the lawyer did not
pose any more questions. Jesus had
just defined what a neighbor
meant in living color. One’s
neighbor is not merely the person
next door or even one’s fellow
countryman, but one’s neighbor is
the one who is nearby, even if he
or she is a sworn enemy. Samari-
tans hated Jews, and yet this
Samaritan neighbored his enemy.
To do this was risky and cost him
time and money, but he did it
anyhow, and as a result, twenty
centuries later, Good Samaritan
hospitals abound across the land.
The funny thing is there was no
good Samaritan. He was merely an
oral fiction Jesus used to teach
something about loving others. Yet,
even if the original good Samaritan
was fiction, countless imitators
(wooed by God’s outrageous love
and committed to obeying the Son
of God) have arisen throughout the
centuries to love in even hazardous
situations. For example in A.D. 250,
a pandemic broke out across the
Roman Empire infecting thousands,
perhaps even millions. Thousands
died daily afflicted with horrible
symptoms including diarrhea, vomit-
ing, burning eyes, loss of limbs, loss
(Continued from page 13)
(Continued on page 15)
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15
of hearing, and loss of sight.6 Pon-
tius, a deacon in the congregation at
Carthage, noted how the city was
littered with “no longer bodies, but
the carcasses of many.”7 The stench
of death must have been unbear-
able as the plague ravaged house
after house. Dionysius, the pastor
of the congregation at Alexandria,
relates the following description:
They pushed away those with
the first signs of the disease
and fled from their dearest.
They even threw them half
dead into the roads and
treated unburied corpses like
refuse in hopes of avoiding
the plague of death, which,
for all their efforts, was diffi-
cult to escape.8
But even if fear and panic shot
through the hearts of the people,
not knowing who would be next, the
Christians, in contrast, responded
quite differently. Rather than ditch-
ing their loved ones, they bravely
cared for their own, making sure the
sick had the necessary provisions
and sanitation to get better. Of
course, nursing someone sick of a
communicable disease in the
ancient world was extremely risky.
Dionysius goes on to tell us how
severe it was:
They would also take up the
bodies of the saints, close
their eyes, shut their mouths,
and carry them on their
shoulders. They would em-
brace them, wash and dress
them in burial clothes, and
soon receive the same ser-
vices themselves.9
Undaunted by death and without
putting their own well-being first,
they reached out to the dying pa-
gans all around them as well. Chris-
tian leaders urged their flocks to
extend love to even their enemies.
Then afterwards he [Cyprian]
subjoined, that there was
nothing wonderful in our
cherishing our own people
only with the needed atten-
tions of love, but that he
might become perfect who
would do something more
than the publican or the hea-
then, who, overcoming evil
with good, and practicing a
clemency which was like the
divine clemency, loved even
his enemies, who would pray
for the salvation of those that
persecute him, as the Lord
admonishes and exhorts.10
At great personal risk, they reached
out to the infected pagans and
nursed them back to health or else
guaranteed they died without lack-
ing care or company. Although
Christians died in great numbers,
their fellow brothers and sisters
regarded them fortunate to have
given their lives on behalf of others.
They were even considered martyrs!
It turns out that this pestilence coin-
cided with one of the greatest
periods of growth for third century
Christianity. I can imagine just how
eager an unbeliever would be to
hear the gospel after being aban-
doned by his own family and nursed
back to health by courageous, loving
Christ-followers.
Jesus said to the lawyer, “Go and
you do likewise.” Even so, “doing
likewise” may cost us great pain,
financial hardship, and even our
own lives. Many times those we
reach out to will lack gratitude, and
sometimes they may even hate us
for trying to help. We may get sued
for trying to aid someone who has
been in a car accident, but we can-
not, we will not, for these reasons
pass by on the other side. For if we
do, Jesus is not our Lord; he is just a
nice, dead religious figure whose
likeness is fit for gluing to our
dashboard or hanging from our rear-
view mirror, but who presents no
challenge to us today. �
(Continued from page 14)
1 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 9.14.3 (288)
2 ibid., 9.14.3 (291).
3 Babylonian Talmud, Seder Zera’im, She-bi’ith 8.10; Babylonian Talmud, Seder To-
horoth, Niddah 4 (31b)
4 Darrell L. Bock, Luke, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids:
Baker 1996), 1031.
5 Martin Luther King, Jr: “I've Been to the Mountaintop,” delivered April 3, 1968,
Memphis, Tennessee.
6 Cyprian, Treatise 7: On the Mortality 14
7 Pontius, The Life and Passion of Cyprian 9, trans. Ernest Wallis, ed. Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5
(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson 2004), 270.
8 Quoted by Eusebius, Church History 7.22.7, trans. Paul L. Maier, Eusebius: The Church
History (Grand Rapids: Kregel 2007), 240.
9 Eusebius, 7.22.9
10 Pontius, 9
KEEP ON PRAYINGKEEP ON PRAYING
Luke 18:1Luke 18:1 Men ought always to pray and not to faintMen ought always to pray and not to faint
Luke 21:36Luke 21:36 Keep on the alert at all times, prayingKeep on the alert at all times, praying
Romans 12:12Romans 12:12 Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation,
devoted to prayerdevoted to prayer
Ephesians 6:18Ephesians 6:18 Pray at all times in the spirit…Pray at all times in the spirit…
with all perseverance with all perseverance
Colossians 4:2Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it
1 Thessalonians 4:171 Thessalonians 4:17 Pray without ceasingPray without ceasing
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