Showing results by author "Thomas James" in All Categories

Último e mais longo conto da coletânea Dublinenses, Os mortos, de James Joyce, narra a ida de Gabriel Conroy e de sua esposa Gretta a uma tradicional festa de Natal na casa das tias de Gabriel. A partir das interações entre os convidados, com descrição de detalhes surpreendentes, Joyce retrata a vida da classe média da capital irlandesa no começo do século passado. Ao fim da festa, o casal retorna ao hotel onde pernoitará, e uma descoberta de Gabriel sobre o passado de Gretta o faz repensar a sua própria vida.

This text has been entitled "Nine Different Ways to Praise the Lord" because nine different Hebrew words in the Old Testament have been translated as "praise" in the scriptures. They are yadah, hilluwl, tehillah, barak, halal, zamar, towdah, shabach, and mahalal. Among those nine, five are verbs and four are nouns. Each of those words will be discussed in this text. In addition, though, because verbs in Hebrew can have different meanings based upon the use of stems, a separate chapter has been devoted to the discussion of Hebrew stem types. Single chapters have also been written to discuss ...

In December 1967, my life was in more trouble than I could realistically handle. While in the midst of those struggles, I asked the Lord to forgive me for all the wrong that I had done and to put my life on a path that would lead me out of my difficulties. More than fifty years later, I can now say that He was faithful to do exactly that. He changed me from the inside out. Then He changed the dreadful circumstances of my entire life. Since that night in 1967, I have experienced the joy of knowing the God of the universe and the one and only Creator of everything. Through the years, I have ...

First Thessalonians is the first letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to any of the local churches. In the opening chapter of this book, one will see how and when he had gotten to the place where he wrote this letter. It is interesting to see and retrace his travels throughout the region along with the travels of Silas and Timothy. Bible scholars have done an excellent job of examining the scriptures and the movements of key people to put everything into the right context and the right timeframe. That having been said, Paul was in his second Bible-recorded missionary journey. This letter to ...

The Bible teaches that there are seven separate judgments. This book was written about the first one, which was the judgment of Satan and sin by the cross of Jesus. It starts with Satan sinning in heaven and being cast to the earth. It carefully analyzes the Garden of Eden environment and the whole theology around what happened when Adam ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It considers several logistical questions concerning his sin, the consequences of his sin, and the resulting physical and spiritual separations from God. Once those topics have been addressed, some ...

The seven churches to whom the seven letters of Revelation chapters two and three were written are shown in the below diagram. They are from top to bottom Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Smyrna, Philadelphia, Ephesus, and Laodicea. The Apostle John was exiled to the isle of Patmos because of his stand for Christ. So on the Lord's Day, Jesus came to him and told him to write the words that appear in the book of Revelation. Revelation 1:10-11 says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice…Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest...

The five individual chapter commentaries on the Epistle of James that I have written have been incorporated into one text of the entire epistle. The first two chapter commentaries were written in 1998 and have been greatly modified for this text. An effort has also been made to convert previously used first person language with more formal third person language. That having been said and in looking at the first chapter of the Epistle of James, it considers authorship, the date that the epistle was written, and the basis for its acceptance into the biblical canon. With a strong focus on the ...

The purpose of this book is to celebrate the victory that the saints of God can have through the power and might of a personal relationship with Christ. It has been divided into four parts. Part one is, "The devil could not overthrow God." In that part, the reader will learn when the devil became the devil. A key point will be that he is not in control of the events of this life. In fact, he is quite limited in what he can and cannot do. Part two is entitled, "The devil cannot overthrow or stop the saints." In that part, key times and events in the lives of Job, David, Abraham, and Joseph ...

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This book discusses most of the key events in Abraham's life as they have been recorded in the Bible. Part I will begin by discussing his life in Ur of the Chaldees when he was first told by God to go to the land where he would be led. Analysis of that instruction, along with some other Bible passages, will show that God had probably told him twice to go to a new land. It will also be pointed out that those multiple calls were not because of his disobedience. Following that discussion, when and how he probably got saved will be presented. He was not just automatically saved. He had to ...

This study looks at the Genesis account of Creation in Genesis chapter one. Key Hebrew words are analyzed. Discussion is presented about some of the more popular views about Creation, such as the Big Bang theory, the Theory of Evolution, the Gap Theory, the Age-Day Theory, and Pantheism. Key creation terms, such as Fiat Creationism, Progressive Creationism, and Theistic Evolution are defined. The role of the Second Law of Thermodynamics as it pertains to Creation is discussed. At the end of the commentary on the first chapter in Genesis, the creation and impact of angels is briefly examined...

This book is a fictional account of what it might be like to live through the Great Tribulation. In the first part of the book, eighteen different characters are introduced and then followed through the events of the Tribulation. This book accepts a basically literal interpretation of the various events. So it tries to give realistic scenarios for each situation. When reading the book of Revelation, one will read about seven seal judgments, seven trumpet judgments, and seven vial judgments. One will also read many seemingly unrelated events that are also happening. The way to understand the...

When most people think about a true love story, they naturally envision a couple jumping into a bed and making mad passionate love to each other. If the scene is from a movie or from a television show, then they would probably see the two going into a bedroom together and then waking up the next day lying next to each other. However, while that in many cases might be an example of true love, it pales in comparison to the true love that God the Father had showed to human beings when He had offered His only begotten Son on the cross of Calvary. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, ...

In the following pages of this text, many ideas will be presented that can help a person better know what the Lord wants him or her to do. Most of those ideas for effectively serving Him will be based upon verses like Jeremiah 29:12-13, John 3:16, II Peter 3:9, Luke 19:10, and Romans 5:6-8. So when a person can build his or her understanding around those kinds of teachings, then he or she will be well on the way to knowing what the Lord wants him or her to do. In chapter one of this text, it will be expressed that true biblical salvation should be better based on words like seek, commit, ...

This book has taken three fairly short books that are very similar to each other and combined them into one book. The three books are God Was in Control of Abraham's Circumstances, God Was in Control of Job's Circumstances, and God Was in Control of Joseph's Circumstances. One can learn different lessons from each saint. So it just makes sense to combine the three short books into one still fairly short book. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text before concluding this Introduction. Something that the reader might find useful is boxes ...

The main reason that I wrote this book was to remember and celebrate becoming a Christian fifty years ago. I got saved on December 14th, 1967. That means that this year, 2017, will mark my fiftieth anniversary of having walked with the Lord. It has been a quick, but rewarding, journey for me. So in grateful appreciation for all that He has meant and continues to mean to me, this book has been written as my Christmas present to the Lord. I am truly grateful that Jesus died on the cross to pay my sin debt. I am truly grateful that He has made His great salvation free to anyone who will come ...

This text was written to do a detailed study of the kings of Israel from the first king, named Saul, to the last king, named Zedekiah. After Solomon, the nation of Israel divided into two separate kingdoms. The southern kingdom was the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The northern kingdom was the other nine tribes, which had included Manasseh and Ephraim because of the double portion inheritance that was given to Joseph. The Levites were not included with either kingdom because they did not own any property. But as will be seen in this text, they were mostly in the southern kingdom and with ...

This short book has been written to share a couple of very important spiritual truths. The first, called the Eternality of Bible Truth, maintains that every word of the Bible has always been true even before it was spoken or written. The second truth is that the Old Testament saints probably did not hear God's audible, out loud voice. That simple statement is not meant to sound heretical. Those words are also not meant to deny anything that Christians have traditionally believed about God. The real message is that what we have many times just accepted as truth in the Bible may in fact not ...

This is a text that I originally started work on in 2016. But I set it aside because I did not know exactly how I wanted to present the seven roles of a pastor. Those roles are elder, bishop, shepherd, preacher, teacher, servant, and messenger. An elder is a man of spiritual maturity who teaches and leads the flock of God. A bishop involves overseeing the needs of the flock. The shepherd cares for the flock. The preacher proclaims the gospel message to those in the assembly. The teacher explains the whole Bible. The servant ministers to the needs of others. The messenger delivers the ...

Chapter one of this text provides a general introduction to the five points of Calvinism and for the acrostic, TULIP. The intent, whenever possible, has been to share direct quotes from Pastor John Calvin on each of the points as a way to let him speak for himself. When that was not possible, the intent was to find and present consensus on the given point by other professing Calvinists. Their comments were provided along with the Bible verses that they had used to defend their position. The main premise of Calvinism is that God chooses those who will be saved and those who will be lost. So ...