Question of the Week: Does Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 teach that there is no consciousness after death?

When reading any book of the Bible, it is important to ask three primary questions before even engaging with the text.
1. What kind of book is it? History, Poetry, or Prophecy?
2. Where does the full statement in the text begin?
3. Does the Bible say anything else that would support our conclusion?

The answer to the first question is Poetry. The book of Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon towards the end of his life where cynicism and disappointment became the defining characteristic of his life. He describes this state as living “under the sun.”

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 (NKJV)

This sets up the literary context as a guide for how this passage should be handled. Poetry can present doctrine. For example, Psalm 51:4 is the basis for our understanding that only God can forgive sins. However, this is further verified elsewhere in the Bible when the God of Israel expresses His desire to forgive Israel’s sins and Jesus uses this as one of His first claims to deity. However, Poetry can also simply be the author expressing their emotions to God. We need to know whether a truth statement is being made, or simply being set up later in the passage. Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 is indeed a statement found within scripture. But in order to understand what the statement actually is, we need to read the full statement before coming to conclusions about the point actually being made.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:3-6

The full statement turns out to be an observation repeatedly referencing the setting in Chapter 1 and verse 3. Under the sun is emphasizing a life separate from God. In this state, the only thing you have going for you is the fact that you haven’t died yet. Once that takes place for someone who only lives for this world, then they’ve lost everything. That’s why he makes the contrast between a mighty creature like a lion and a detestable creature like a dog. The dog is better off than the lion because it’s still alive. That’s his point. If you’re under the sun, you’re only worth something if you’re producing something. The question is if there’s an alternative. This is what brings us to the end of the book.

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”
Ecclesiastes 12:1

This is the point of the entire book. Solomon had no pleasure in life because he wasn’t serving his Creator like he had in his younger years. You can find further context to this time and his transition into hedonism in the book of 1 Kings.

Solomon isn’t giving a description of the afterlife. He is making an observation about death. Death for the non-believer is the end of everything they have and ever will accomplish. The Bible as a whole presents a very different picture for those who are living under the Son, rather than the sun.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

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Question of the Week: Can you please explain where Jesus came from? Is Jesus the real son of God like a child is a father’s son?

Jesus is called the Son of God in Christian scripture. In order to properly define this, we need to be careful to let the Bible define it’s terms rather than assume our definitions for them. The word “son” describes a relationship. This can either be a biological description of their origins, or a description of their relationship with another person. When referring to Jesus as the Son of God, the Bible isn’t saying that God the Father biologically sired Jesus through Mary like anti-Christian cults have tried to claim in the past. In order to support this claim, we will do the same thing anyone should do when making claims about God. Confirm it based on what He said about Himself.

Was Jesus the biological offspring of the Father? No. There are truth claims made about who and what God is by nature that make this impossible.

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:24 (NKJV)

Speaking to the Samaritan woman after she asked Him a question about where one properly worships God, Jesus clarifies that God in His fullness isn’t bound by time and place. He is Spirit. Therefore, not biological. If you aren’t a physical being, you can’t physically sire offspring.

Was Jesus biologically produced by the Father? No. There are truth claims made about Jesus that would make this comparison to human existence beginning at their birth inaccurate.

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”
Micah 5:2 (NKJV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (…)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-3, 14 (NKJV)

In both the Old and New Testaments, we have clarification about the child named Jesus, who would be the Christ. First, it is established by the prophet Micah that the child to be born in Bethlehem’s “goings forth” were from everlasting. Literally eternity. He is the only child who existed before He was born, and existed from eternity into the past. This is affirmed in the beginning of John’s Gospel by clarifying the Word, that was God, became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus’ origins were the same as the Father’s. They existed for eternity together. This sharing of divine attributes between Jesus and the Father are the foundations for the doctrine of the Trinity. That there is one God with a unique nature including multiple persons. This is what brings us to the final fact to properly understand what the Bible means when it calls Jesus the Son of God.

Was Jesus conceived through sexual reproduction? No. Jesus is the only person in the human race to enter this world entirely through a woman without the involvement of a man.

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Luke 1:30-37

Referencing the prophecy in Genesis 3:15, the angel Gabriel clarifies to Mary exactly how she is going to become pregnant without a man. The Father isn’t mentioned in producing Jesus, but rather the Spirit going to her and overshadowing her. There is no reason to read into this a sexual interaction given the data we already have. Neither the Spirit or the Father are biological beings capable of having sexual intercourse with Mary. Jesus already existed at the time of His biological conception and already had existed from eternity. The only ones who would require this as the means by which Jesus entered this world are those reading into the text the pagan understanding of the gods having sons. Pagan deities are indistinguishable from humans apart from their power. The God of the Bible, who adopted human nature in the person of Jesus Christ as the second member of the Trinity, explicitly stated that He would enter this world through a virgin. (Isaiah 7:14) The God of the Bible, who adopted human nature in the person of Jesus Christ as the second member of the Trinity, explicitly stated He relates to God as His Father. (John 8:29) The God of the Bible, who adopted human nature…You get the point. Jesus claims the sort of things that only God can rightly say about Himself. He is called Creator, the Final Judge, the Giver of Eternal Life, the First and the Last, the I AM, and many other things that only the God of the Bible can rightly claim about Himself. Therefore, we rightly conclude that Jesus is God. Yet at the same time, Jesus is called the Son of God who relates to God as His Father and can function independently from Him as a person when He adopted human nature in a moment of human history. Since we can’t reconcile this by stating Jesus began to exist through a biological relationship, nor can we rightly claim that Jesus was produced from the Father through physical means, we understand that Jesus meant His relationship with God the Father is like a Son does with His Father. It’s a term describing their relationship within the Trinity.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

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Question of the Week: What is the Bible’s perspective on White Guilt?

The topic of White Guilt needs to be properly defined before it is effectively addressed. The concept of White Guilt is the shame that the descendants of slave owners bear for the actions of their ancestors. Given that the popular narrative presents the majority of slave owners as white-skinned, those that share the ethnicity of slave owners also requires them to bear their guilt and answer for their actions. The common biblical illustration given of someone apologizing on behalf of an ethnicity and culture that they didn’t necessarily take part in themselves is referenced in Daniel 9 where the prophet apologizes to God for the sins of his nation.

Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
Daniel 9:3-7 (NKJV)

There are many problems with this approach to addressing the atrocities of the past, as well as this approach to interpreting scripture. Starting with the Bible, understand why this approach to Daniel’s prayer is missing the point of the passage entirely. The claim is that the idea of bearing the guilt of actions you yourself haven’t committed ignores the fact that Daniel is addressing his sins in this prayer as well. It goes on to be very specific about what laws and standards they violated, why they ended up in Babylon as a result, and what caused Daniel to pray this prayer in the first place.

in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem
Daniel 9:2 (NKJV)

“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly! “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
Daniel 9:13-19 (NKJV)

Daniel makes constant reference to the Laws of Moses that they not only violated, but were judged according to. Daniel wasn’t taking a modern understanding of idolatry and judging the actions of his ancestors. They knew what they were doing was wrong and on that basis of personal responsibility for his own failure to obey those laws, he was also judged according to the consequences detailed in Deuteronomy 28. The only way an accurate comparison could be made between the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade the United States participated in and Israel’s exile in Babylon is if the Founding Fathers of the United States had included in the Constitution that slaves were not to be owned or purchased, and a prediction that the violation of this law would result in them being taken from the United States and enslaved by another nation. The comparison is not historically accurate to justify innocent descendants of people who were the same ethnicity of slave owners bearing the guilt of actions they never committed.

Going on to address the fundamental flaw in claiming White Guilt is biblical, it assumes that anything an ethnic group has committed in the past shares the guilt of those actions with those who have that ethnicity. Even if you are a direct descendant of slave owners, the Bible acknowledges the plain fact that authentic guilt is determined by the actions of the individual. Not their ancestors or the color of their skin.

“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
Ezekiel 18:19-23 (NKJV)

Hopefully the plain statements in this passage are clear. If anyone is going to bear the shame of committing an action and be required to apologize for it to the offended party, it is going to be the person who actually committed the action to the actual offended party. The concept of White Guilt assumes the opposite of this. If we have learned anything from history, it’s that people are evil. Ethnicity is irrelevant to your character. If you have enslaved someone as a Christian or treated someone as if they were inferior based on their ethnicity, you are sinning and need to repent. Human beings are to be honored and respected based on one factor, they bear the Image of God. If they are His Creation, your treatment of them should directly reflect your love and respect for the Creator. If you accuse someone of crimes they haven’t committed, but consider them guilty of those crimes because of their ethnicity, you need to repent for the exact same reason. The concept of White Guilt is not only incoherent, but racist by definition. It is just as wrong to treat people differently on the basis of the color of their skin when it is light as when it is dark.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, on 106.3FM Reach Radio

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Question of the Week: How do we know what the Bible means when there are so many different interpretations?

It is easy to confuse interpretation and application. If we make two different words mean the same thing, it is only natural for things to become confusing. Interpretation is the author’s intention for the passage in the most plain and literal sense given the overall context. Application is how that interpretation is lived out. The Bible affirms that there is one sound interpretation for what we read in scripture in the Old and New Testament.

All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.
Proverbs 8:8-9 (NKJV)

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:19-21 (NKJV)

Both of these passages establish within their context a sound approach to the Interpretation of scripture. And in order to verify this, we will use the passages themselves to demonstrate the difference between interpretation and application. The context of the passage in Proverbs is apart of a parable, or an illustrative story where wisdom is personified as a woman crying out in the public square to be heard by the simple for their help. This is how the chapter begins in the immediate literary context. We clarify the author of this Proverb all the way back to the beginning of the book in Proverbs 1:1. The type of literature is poetry given its categorization in the Kethuvim in Jewish Tradition. And the reason this woman used by Solomon to illustrate wisdom could be soundly applied to the Word of God is that both within Proverbs itself and the writings of the Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth, both are plainly referenced as the source and standard of wisdom.

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;
By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And clouds drop down the dew.
Proverbs 3:18-19 (NKJV)

…that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Colossians 2:2-3 (NKJV)

If Jesus is where wisdom is to be found and is so fundamentally a part of His nature that it was how He created the universe, His methods are going to be as consistent as His nature. There can be things we don’t know about scripture, but the things God explains to us will be plainly understood to those who are looking for it. That is our hermeneutical key, or how we understand the meaning of the Bible.

Going back now to 2 Peter, the Apostle clarifies that the Holy Spirit moved these men to speak. In the immediate prior passage, he also clarifies that there is no private interpretation to these passages. The authors were moved by the same mind who plainly stated what He intended. Given that information, where does the diversity come into play? The differences are in the application. If God spoke plainly, then I can read the Bible literally like I would regarding any other piece of literature. If God spoke through these men, then I can trust their words for the same reasons I trust God. If scripture isn’t of any private interpretation, then I can challenge cults and liberal groups that form conclusions about God by making passages unclear rather than plain and direct. All of these are correct applications given a plain Interpretation of the text.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

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Question of the Week: What does the Bible say about people like George Floyd?

The first thing to understand when it comes to victims of a crime is where that standard of right and wrong ways of treating people comes from. Then the importance of truth and a proper understanding of the situation become necessary for a proper reaction to the crime. And finally we need to clarify where ultimate justice is found.

When a human being is the victim of a crime for any reason, it is morally wrong on the basis of the first law given to mankind that would warrant capital punishment.

“Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.”

Genesis 9:6 determines our value and the penalty for murder as worthy of death for this reason. Man was made in the image of God. This reference to Genesis 2 is vital in understanding the basis of morality itself since the one who gave life bears the sole responsibility of rightly taking it. Those who represent Him in government are doubly responsible when they misuse that power and only makes the heinous crime of murder all the more apparent of why it was to be dealt with so harshly. Man ought not take the right that belongs only to God into their own hands.

Regarding the event that brought this question up, a man by the name of George Floyd who was arrested on suspicion of paying for a meal with a counterfeit $20 bill. The officers on scene put the man face down and were told by him that he couldn’t breathe. Ignoring this, a particular officer put his knee on the man’s back in direct violation against the training he had received when properly detaining a suspected felon. A later autopsy determined he had a heart condition, but immediate reports claimed the officer suffocated him. Whichever it is; the police officer responsible for his death was charged with murder, fired from the police force, divorced by his wife, and is going to federal prison. The officers that observed this abuse and stood by have been charged with 3rd degree murder and also fired from the police force awaiting further sentencing as of the time of this post. The reason this is all being recapped is because truth matters. When an accusation for any crime, especially one so high as murder comes from scripture as well.

“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. ¹⁶ If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. ¹⁸ And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, ¹⁹ then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. ²⁰ And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. ²¹ Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15-21 notes that God’s standards for the accusation as well as punishment for a crime is established on the confirmation of two or three witnesses. And if someone falsely accuses someone of a crime, they bear the penalty for the crime they were trying to accuse them of. If God’s standards for justice are on the foundation of truth over emotions, we would do well to recognize that as the foundation of our justice system as well. For all intents and purposes, the video evidence and multiple eyewitnesses to this crime against a fellow human being have established and led to a just punishment. In Israel, the police officer would have been executed. In the United States, we can be thankful that the right to a fair trial (as first established in the Bible) led to a just conclusion with no need for further loss of life then those responsible for it.

This is where we address the ultimate source of justice and the need for it that we all recognize. People have taken it on themselves to cause further damage to the lives of those who weren’t involved in George Floyd’s death and even ended the lives of others. This reaction is in no way justified and every single crime committed during these riots deserves to be answered for according to the same standards that called for the police officers to answer for their crime. However, these reactions on the part of people comes from somewhere. Without a source of ultimate justice, people will take it into their own hands to see the crime of violating the image of God answered for. Even if they don’t even understand why such a thing is a crime in the first place. We universally recoil at injustice showing there is a need for these crimes to be answered for. We universally recognize a moral law showing there is a universal law-giver. The only ones who are without hope for this being fulfilled and are driven by their emotions to further fallen acts are those who don’t know if there will be justice beyond this life. Scripture tells us that on the same historical authority that Jesus rose from the dead, He will return to right every wrong and personally ensure that the people who have done the bad things will answer for it. We look at the cross of Jesus Christ and see just how seriously God takes the punishment that is due to our sin. He could not open Heaven to anyone without seeing every last crime rightly punished on the cross. Our hope as Christians is to know that our crimes have not only been answered for, but the comfort that those who have been victimized by these crimes will not be without justice.

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:19

The judge of all the earth will do what is right. This is what the Bible says about people like George Floyd.
Sean C. Richards- sean@ccftucson.org

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, on 106.3FM Reach Radio

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Question of the Week: Why is Proverbs 26:10 written two different ways in two different translations?

Proverbs 26:10 (KJV): The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.

Proverbs 26:10 (NIV): Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.

In order to understand the discrepancy, we first need to clarify something that is often taken for granted when reading our Bibles. It was not originally written in the English language. While this proverb remains consistently translated in the original language, different translators have taken two different positions regarding two key words in the passage. The word translated as transgressor and archer are the same because it’s the word we use for sinner. Someone who misses the mark. Likewise, the word translated great and employer are the same because they are the word we use for someone in authority. This is where the translators had difficulty. Is the passage referring to the one with ultimate authority and his dealings with sinners and righteous alike? That is a biblically consistent conclusion since we read elsewhere in Matthew 5:45 that God is good to people regardless if they deserve it or not. On the other hand, is the passage referring to those generally in authority over others unwisely making themselves responsible for people they don’t know? That is also a biblically consistent conclusion given the immediate literary context of the Proverb. Proverbs 26:9 and Proverbs 26:11 are both addressing foolish people in the horizontal sense. This is more likely to be the accurate translation. The key detail to note is that given both translations and all available information, we could choose one Proverb over the other, or even remove the Proverb entirely from all English translations, and no doctrine of belief of Christianity would change as a result. The real issue with this passage is how often do these kinds of translation hazards occur? The answer is extremely rarely and never in the kind of passages that make a real difference to the Bible as a whole. The complete list of problem passages in the Old and New Testament combined total a half page of text. And no major doctrine of Christianity is affected by any of them.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

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Question of the Week: Is it possible to accidentally take the Mark of the Beast?

No. The first time the Mark of the Beast is mentioned and defined in scripture is Revelation 13:15-17. Therefore all of our understanding of what it is and isn’t should be defined through this passage and those to follow. The way people take the Mark of the Beast is explained within that passage. Revelation 13:15 If you don’t worship the Image of the Beast, you will be killed. It follows that in the Antichrist’s kingdom, those who take the Mark will be spared. People who take the Mark will do so under the threat of death. The immediate next chapter details how the gospel will be shared during this time in the Tribulation. Literal Angels will be warning people across the globe exactly what will happen if they take the Mark long-term. Revelation 14:9 If you worship the Image of the Beast, you will face the wrath of God. Taking the Mark involves worshipping his Image. We have no reason to believe this is symbolic, since idols have been set up in the Jewish Temple before in history where people were threatened with death if they didn’t worship it. This was first detailed in Daniel 9-11 and repeated by Jesus in Matthew 24 as the Abomination that Causes Desolation. The Mark of the Beast is an afterthought to the real action that permanently severs your relationship with God. You can’t accidentally worship the Image of the Beast in the rebuilt Jewish Temple and personally recognize the new world leader as the True and Living God. Therefore, you can’t accidentally take the Mark of the Beast.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

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