BIBLE WATCH

There is so much misunderstanding in the Church today regarding the gift of prophecy. Many people believe that prophecy only refers to telling something before it happens. However, even in the Old Testament, the messages of the prophets contained as much, if not more, about the present than they did about the future. In Hebrew, the word translated prophecy is based on the word stem nābā, which simply means “to speak by divine inspiration, either in prediction or simple discourse.”  “ Prophecies ” is transliterated (i.e. brought straight over from Greek to English) from the noun  prophēteia . It is made up of  pro , meaning “before, in time or position” and a form of the verb  phēmi , meaning “to tell.” The verb form of this word can refer  EITHER : Foretelling  (predicting or telling something before it happens). It seeks to predict the future. It predicts or reveals personalities, occurrences, circumstances that will hap...

The question, "why did Jesus come" remains the most asked question ever. It is a crucial question, for a wrong answer could lead us to some awful misconceptions. For instance: If he came to teach morals - then we will think that His life was about ethics. If he came to fix the environment - then we will think that His life was about trees and plants. If he came to model manners and nice living - then we will think that He is like any other role model. A wrong understanding of why Jesus came will take us in all sorts of wrong directions! It is crucial we know why He came to the earth. So, let us read His own words explaining why it was He came. John 18:37  Jesus answered, "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Mark 1:38  [Jesus] said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came f...