The Evil Eye - A Bible Study

The Evil Eye - A Bible Study

My latest Bible Study:

Join my Bible study on the 'good' vs. the 'evil' eye!

The 'evil' or the 'good' eye

A wave of giggles shifts across the congregation as the ushers hand each attendee a small piece of candy. I say, “Do not eat this candy. I want you to hold it for a while. It will help you remember what I preach this morning.”

“OK, does everyone have a piece of candy?” There is a short pause and I continue, speaking tongue in cheek, “Everyone repeats after me, “Pastor Walt gave me the evil eye, today.” There is a tidal laugh across the church, as they repeat the words. “Now, hold your eyeball candy in your hand and say, “I have an evil eye!” The chuckles begin to die down, as my message begins to penetrate the understanding of the worshipers.

Three initial points:

1. Everyone has an “evil” eye. It is just like the candy you are holding but it is real and spiritual. Spiritually, we all have an evil eye! You may not want to admit it, but you have an evil eye!

2. Everyone has “good” eyes too. Spiritually, we have an evil eye, but we also have good eyes!

3. We have a choice of which eye to use. We can choose not to use our evil eye, and instead use our good eye and be blessed!

Read the rest!

Bible Study on Ghosts

Bible Study on Ghosts

This is my latest online Bible Study:

Biblical tales from the crypt - A Short Bible Study

With my mind's eye, I journey through several Biblical tales from the crypt. It appears that our present age of reasoning into the twilight regions of deaths, hauntings and ghosts from the past life have not evolved that far from the stories told thousands of years ago. I should add that Jesus Christ Himself taught of a spirit world. However, He did not teach about returning spirits of dead men/women to haunt the dickens from the otherwise calm and reasoned folk; but of angels, fallen and benevolent that can interact spiritually with us. Our Christian God even names Himself, Holy Ghost, to emphasize that part of His Divinity with which our spirits can relate.

The word "spirit" is generally recognized as the vital principle or animating force within living things. The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, "breath", and it has many differing meanings and connotations. So, on some level, we all believe in spirits. The word "ghost" is another rendering of "spirit." In the King James Bible both terms are used to describe 'spirit.' The choice of 'ghost' or 'spirit' as the correct word is made according to the context of the Biblical passages and the background at the time of its writing. Most modern translations simply use the word, "spirit." This is no doubt because the evolution of the term has moved more towards the ghostly, eerie, nature which the word 'ghost' has taken on since KJV times. Regardless, the word has its origin in the idea of "breath" or "wind". God breathed, and man became a living soul with a "spirit" of life within Him; Jesus breathed on his disciples, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost;" When Jesus died, he "gave up the ghost (breathed out His life)."

Having given this introduction, let us now examine the relationships between Jesus' teaching and some of the believed folklore of Bible days.