Truth Be Told: A Blog by Pastor Bill Alderson

For the first 300 years of Early Christianity, until Constantine legalized Christianity and churches moved into larger buildings, Christians typically met in homes, if only because intermittent persecution (before the Edict of Milan in 313) did not allow the erection of public church buildings. Clement of Alexandria, an early church father, wrote of worshipping in a house. The Dura-Europos church, a private house in Dura-Europos in Syria, was excavated in the 1930s and found to have been used as a Christian meeting place in AD 232, with one small room serving as a baptistry, which gave rise to the current style of church seen today. The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house .                    1 Corinthians 16:19 Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and also ...

  And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries [ musterion – hidden spiritual truths] of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore, I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand .                        Matthew 13:10-13 In Matthew 13, Jesus preached eight parables dealing with the kingdom of heaven; in fact, he changed His whole method of teaching and it troubled the disciples. The above exchange was their response to this change. Jesus answered with this explanation: "To you it has been granted to know the myster...

                 In the beginning was the Word [ logos ], and the Word [ logos ] was with God, and the Word                               [ logos ] was God .                            John 1:1 The basic meaning of logos, most often translated as “word,” is “the expression of thought, not the mere name of an object.” In a more formal sense, it is divine revelation and declaration, the thoughts of God revealed to men by the Holy Spirit. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, All Scripture [ graphe ] is inspired by [the Spirit of] God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work . The Holy Spirit has inspired the writers of...

“Hold loosely to the things of this life, so that if God requires them of you, it will be easy to let them go.”                     Corrie ten Boom             When ya ain’t got nothin,’ ya got nothin’ to lose.                     Bob Dylan Private ownership of property and other possessions is an integral part of American and Western culture, but it was not always the case. When the United States was comprised of the thirteen colonies under British rule, all land was owned by the monarch, who could then grant it to lords.  The lords would then lease the land to the common people. After the American Revolution, the rules governing land ownership and acquisition were modified. Instead of the government owning all of the land, which would later be granted or leased to other...

                 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do                not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as                you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' ”                  Matthew 10:5-7   In the above passage, Jesus commissioned His disciples to go to the Jews, the lost sheep of Israel, village to village, and declare to them that “ The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This was the same declaration made by John the Baptist during his public ministry prior to his arrest and imprisonment. When asked by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, Jesus said, " The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'L...