Here is the next section, John 1:19-28:
Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
Finally, they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
“I baptize with[e] water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Questions and discussion:
Here, John plays the role of the one who will arrive before the Messiah–the one predicted by Isaiah. John said he only baptized with water.
According to the Bible, are Cherubim little fat babies with wings and a bow? Check out how the Bible describes a Cherub.
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Here is the first assignment from the Gospel of John 1: 1-18:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Questions and discussion:
This bible study is available to everyone. We start with the Gospel of John. I will post a piece of Scripture along with questions every week. There also may be a question or “fun facts” regarding my Angelic Wars' musical novels. I will post my comments before posting the next Scriptural section.
We are moving fast on the next Angelic Wars' musical novel, End of the Beginning. The book and music will be released in late summer, but I am leaking parts of it to followers of the Septemviri.
Here is a discussion between Archangel Michael and an angel who has reconsidered his decision to be a member of Satan's Legion. I combined the ideas of Anselm (an 11th century monk) with Exodus 3:14.Michael lowered his sword and motioned for Malachy to do the same, the risk factor dropping a notch. “Why are you here?” “I hid in the structure of Sardis after the closing. I had to think about my past, my present, and my future. I compared myself, as a god, to the Creator. I realized that the Creator has no past, nor future, so everything is present—therefore, He is truly ‘I Am.’ But not for us angels; we are part of creation, so we have to think in a linear fashion—at least at this point of limited knowledge.”
Anselm, Proslogion, translated by Thomas Williams, Chapter 22, page 20-21; Exodus 3:14
By the way, a congratulations to Justin C. who won a $25 Amazon Gift Card. He was the only person to correctly answer the riddle of the angel's name in the last newsletter. Her name, Leihja, is a scrambled form of Elijah. There are other aspects in the next book which parallel her with this great prophet. For those who tried and didn't get it right, don't be discouraged. There are more Angelic Wars' contests in the future.
A BIG congratulations to Nancy W. for winning the monthly Angelic Wars t-shirt. The drawing asked the reader “what was your favorite scene?” Nancy chose the final scene in the book where the Septemviri were equipped for fight spiritual warfare with armor described in Ephesians 6.
To enter any of the drawings, just download Angelic Wars, First Rebellion free supplement—Behind the Scenes Secrets by clicking this link. You will have to re-enter your email address. (Don't worry if you are already a Septemviri follower. You will not receive double issues, just the emails that offer the contests). Other drawings include leather bookmarks, signed posters, t-shirts, and signed musical CDs.
From our family to yours.
Mark Sneed of Reader Views writes a nice review of my first musical novel, Angelic Wars, First Rebellion.
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Pull up a chair and listen to my chat with Parker J Cole on her Write Stuff radio show about my free download prequel of the Angelic Wars series, Into the Mind of Lucifer. It aired on Tuesday, December 1st at 7 pm Eastern time.
https://www.blogtalkradio.com/pjcmedia/2020/12/02/into-the-mind-of-lucifer–write-stuff—1212020
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