Showing results by author "Joseph Lumpkin" in All Categories

God is born in human form. Ultimate power and authority reside in the hands of a child. Early Christians looked at their own children as they played, argued, loved, and fought and wondered what it would have been like to raise the son of God. How would Jesus have acted as a baby, a toddler, a child, or a teenager? How human was this “God-child,” Jesus? Did he have the failings of their own children? Was he selfish and rash at the age of one? Was his stage of the “terrible twos” as horrible a stage as most? If Jesus were a normal youngster what would the outcome have been?

The extremes to which the church and its leaders have gone in order to protect and justify various decisions regarding points of faith is fascinating, but tends to obscure the truth. Revisionist history, coercion, greed, lust, and propaganda were the order of the day when the major items of doctrine were being decided. In fact, many of those truths that we hold so dear in our Christian faith were decided, if not invented, through or because of political and financial aims, and not by theological insight. Many doctrines went well beyond what the early church held as truth.

The search for wisdom has been the pole-star of humanity for 6,000 years. Religions have come and gone, philosophies have failed, but those surviving wells of wisdom go deep and yield sweet refreshment for the soul. Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Zen, and Eastern Christian writings have served as pathways to peace and enlightenment, but the path is not easily traveled. Wisdom is a harsh master, demanding authenticity and truth. No self-delusion or protection will be tolerated. The seeker must be spiritually eviscerated. Mind and soul must be laid bare.

3 Enoch, also called The Third Book of Enoch, The Hebrew Book of Enoch, and The Book of the Palaces, purports to have been written in the second century A.D. by a Rabbi, who became a 'high priest' after he had visions of an ascension to Heaven, 90 AD - 135 A.D. The book is part of the Merkabah tradition, which are writings with the theme of ascension into heaven. The name is derived from a Hebrew word meaning chariot, referring to Ezekiel's vision beginning in Ezekiel 1:4.

The Book of Gad the Seer, also called The Word of Gad the Seer, is said to have been written by the Prophet mentioned in 1 Chronicles 29:29. The passage reads: "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in The Book of Gad the Seer."

This audiobook contains the first five books of the Greek Septuagint (Old Testament) in English. The Greek word Pentateuch (“five books or a bookcase or volume of five”) refers to the first five books of the Bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. To the Jews, these five books are also known collectively as The Torah.

Since the dawn of his existence, this creature, this fierce and violent beast, has been obsessed with conflict. Like an incurable disease - an addictive drug - war has terrified, teased and taunted, repelled, and fascinated. The power of conquest, the lure and craving for wealth, has fashioned the ultimate beast of war - man. In his own words throughout the centuries, man speaks to us of war - its art, its poetic strategy, its allure, and its tragedy. Come with us now and listen to the words of our own kind as they teach us how to be warriors.

With insights gained from the Individuation process of Carl Jung, The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas bursts into flames of gnosis, allowing us to see the truth about the deeper mysteries of life. If you have ever felt as if there was more to existence than you could see, that there was another world just behind the curtain of your mind, just out of reach, which contains the full truth, the words of Jesus according to The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas will echo within you and lead you into light.

Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) - For meditation and encouragement, there are no better books than these. From the youthful energy of the Song of Songs to the wisdom of age seen in Ecclesiastes, these books have insights and guidance for everyone and any age.

This audiobook will reach down into your soul and force contemplation. It will make you search the length and breadth of the consequences of your beliefs and faith and it will make you want to seek the very heart of God and His grace in your life through the words you hear. Take your time. God will be there, waiting. The journey is not an easy one. It takes heart-wrenching emptiness to be filled with only Him.

The "Gabriel Vision," also known as the "Revelation of Gabriel" or "Hazon Gabriel," refers to a fascinating archaeological artifact discovered in 2007. A Bedouin shepherd near the Dead Sea in Jordan discovered the stone tablet. The shepherd reportedly stumbled upon a cave containing several artifacts, including the stone tablet.

The newly discovered Gospel of Jesus' Wife was revealed to the public in September of 2012. The small scrap of codex is the size of a credit card, but it has reignited controversy over what is now mounting evidence that Jesus may have been married. Gospels and letters, some hidden by the church and some lost until recently, tell the story of who Jesus was, what he looked like, and hint at who he may have married. Were Jesus of Nazareth and Mary of Magdala husband and wife? The evidence is piling up.

In the bible of one of the oldest Christian sects, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, are the books of Enoch and Jubilees. These ancient texts are missing from the bibles of other Christian sects and denominations. The books reveal the secrets of the Watchers, the fallen angels who mated with women. The texts describe the offspring of this unholy union and how it brought evil into the world in the forms of the Giants, the Men of Renown, and the Nephilim, who were half human and half demon.

The Lost Books of the New Testament - The Gospel of Judas, The Gospel of Philip, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, The Gospel of Thomas, The 29th Chapter of Acts, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans, The Gospel of Nicodemus, The Lost Gospel of Peter.

Through thousands of years of interpreting the Bible through the lens of changing languages and societies, and varying regard to females and feminine qualities, the concept of God has become more and more male to the exclusion of God's female side of wisdom, mercy, grace, and nurture. Let us attempt to rediscover the truth and expand our understanding of the complete and perfect God. If God is our creator and we were made in the image of God, then God is both our father and our mother.

El libro de Enoc estuvo perdido para los occidentales por cientos de años. Sus secretos fueron guardados sólo por las sectas Cristianas de Etiopía y las iglesias ortodoxas y Tewahedo. James Bruce trajo el libro a occidente en los primeros siglos del siglo 18, pero no fue considerado escritura auténtica. El libro de Enoc fue descubierto entre los rollos del mar muerto y sabemos que este era el libro que Jesus, Judas, y Pedro estaban citando. Los estudiantes Religiosos estaban maravillados. 

Before you are the books referred to as the Minor Prophets. This portion of the Septuagint contains the books of Osee, Joel, Amos, Obdias, Jonas, Michaeas, Naum, Ambacum, Sophonias, Aggaeus, Zacharias, and Malachias. As the known world became Hellenized, the Jews began to lose their ability to read and write Hebrew. Jewish leaders were alarmed that soon no one would be able to read and teach the Torah. Owing to this, a Greek version was commissioned. The earliest writer who gives an account of the Septuagint version is Aristobulus, a Jew who lived in the second century BC.

By examining the earliest and most ancient texts of the faith, the original and unaltered words and intentions of Jesus may be heard in a brighter light. With fresh insight, we may better understand the evolution and journey of a new movement from a small Jewish sect to a world religion.

Certain elements, rituals, and stories have been passed down within the brotherhood of masons from those great workers and architects that created structures from King Solomon’s Temple to the classic churches of the Middle Age. The stories and legends of our progenitor and our first Grandmaster could be true. The layout of the lodge and the offices occupied within the lodges of the Freemasons may indeed date back to the time of King Solomon, yet none of these events explain the strange words, terms, and and military-like events taking place within the lodge today.

History has given us two separate and very different books by the same title. One of these may be the book mentioned in the Holy Bible. If so, it would reveal history and information which would augment and supplement our knowledge of the events from creation to the conquering of the Promised Land. The Books of Jasher includes details about the antediluvian patriarchs, the institution of the 10 Commandments, the establishment of the priesthood, angels, watchers, the flood, the tower of Babel, and many other events mentioned in the Bible.