Bridge of Reason

Jewish scholars tell us that as many as 20% of first century Israel may have accepted Jesus as the Messiah. We know that three thousand came to the Lord on the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:4) and shortly afterwards another 5,000 men plus any women and children became believers (Acts 4:4). Acts 6:7 then records that a large number of priests became obedient to Christ. Many years later when Paul came back from his third missionary journey, probably around 60 AD, we read that the number of true Christians had already grown to tens of thousands - see Acts 21:20. The Greek word used in this verse is murias, which according to The New Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament , literally means; "a ten-thousand; a myriad or indefinite number; an innumerable multitude; an unlimited number" (p.419). See Luke 12:1, Acts 19:19 and Jude 14 for examples of the use of this word. If there were already so many believers in 60 AD, there would be no places left between the 1870...

Whether its being picked for the team, winning prizes at school or getting the promotion we feel is long overdue, we love to be noticed. You might say it is in our nature and that kudos is something we understand instinctively even if we can’t quite define the word. Lamech, fifth from the star-crossed Cain, boasted to his no doubt long-suffering wives Adah and Zillah: Listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, A young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, Then Lamech seventy times (Genesis 4:23-24) I am sure that when they married Mr Right they had no idea his first name was “Always”, but Lamech made his mark and they probably never heard the end of it. I can just see him leaning against the bar at his local inn telling those good old boys all about it. We all love a good story, especially when its us telling it. At the Tower of Babel we discover that working together in a common cause can have its own rewards. Enlightened self-int...