The following table provides the latest information (as of 10:25 pm) for the total number of views on my blog for posts that have had 1,000 or more views. It is interesting to consider the varying subject matter of these posts.
I still am amazed that the most viewed post on my blog has to do with biblical reasons for why Solomon did not perish eternally! I never would have guessed that subject would elicit so much interest.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
In my continuing research about CCM, I recently found two excellent articles about the dangers of music of the occult:
Music 6 – Hear That Long Snake Moan
Music 7 – Drumming at the Edge of Magic
These articles provide very valuable information and documentation about this subject.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
What should we think and do concerning making use of the abilities of unbelievers and of products made by them? Because believers should base all their doctrine and practice on what God has revealed in Scripture, this post compiles biblical passages that provide direction about this matter.
David and Solomon made use of non-Israelite people and products on various occasions. Considering these passages provides instruction for us.
David used Goliath’s sword to kill Goliath and later availed himself of the sword again when he needed a weapon.
1 Samuel 17:51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
1 Samuel 21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.
David also had put on him a crown that was on the head of an Ammonite king.
2 Samuel 12:30 And he took their king’s crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David’s head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.
David employed skilled craftsmen from Tyre to make his house.
1 Chronicles 14:1 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and timber of cedars, with masons and carpenters, to build him an house.
After defeating an enemy, David took for himself chariots belonging to the enemy.
1 Chronicles 18:4 And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots.
Solomon recognized the excellence of the Sidonians in hewing timber and availed himself of that resource.
1 Kings 5:6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.
Solomon employed a highly skillful half-Israelite man in making the temple of God.1
1 Kings 7:13 And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. 14 He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
Solomon had his servants collaborate with knowledgeable sailors of Tyre.
1 Kings 9:27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
Solomon imported chariots from Egypt and then exported them to others.
1 Kings 10:29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
These passages show that both David and Solomon took advantage of the skillfulness of certain non-Israelites (or half-Jewish men) in certain areas of their expertise. They also made use of some products made by non-Israelite peoples.
These passages provide a biblical basis for believers’ making use of certain unbelievers for accomplishing certain tasks in their lives. This revelation also shows that believers may make legitimate use of certain products made by some unbelievers.
1 Scripture does not provide definitive information for us to know with certainty whether this skillful half-Israelite was an unbeliever or a believer.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, most of us believers throughout much of the world may not be able to celebrate Easter in our churches this year on next Sunday. At least two passages in Scripture lead me to wonder if we should celebrate Easter in our churches later this year instead of not observing it at all.
In the Law, God commanded the celebrating of the Passover a month later than its normal time under certain circumstances:
Numbers 9:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD. 11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
On one occasion in his reign, godly king Hezekiah directed the Israelites to celebrate the Passover one month later than usual:
2 Chronicles 30:1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel. 2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. 3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. 4 And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.
2 Chronicles 30:13 And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation. . . . 15 Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.
Scripture provides both divine instruction and godly example for the celebration of a key religious holiday one month later than its usual time when circumstances necessitated it or warranted it for some appropriate reason. Given our inability to celebrate Easter this year in our churches this next Sunday, these passages lead me to think that we should celebrate Easter later this year rather than foregoing it completely.
What do you think?
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
A consistent belief in evolution, natural selection, survival of the fittest, etc. would seem to be possible only for those who believe that there is no God who created all things, etc.
From the standpoint of someone who believes in the survival of the fittest [which is not what I believe], how would so-called racism be wrong since it promotes the idea that some so-called races are better than others?
If you believe that humans in their so-called races evolved to be the way they are, how can you hold that it is wrong for the so-called superior races to do what is the way everything supposedly works (natural selection, etc)?
Disclaimer: I believe what the Bible teaches about God, creation, the Golden Rule, etc and hold that evolution, natural selection, survival of the fittest, superior races, etc. are all false views.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
I continue to be amazed to find out what the top all-time most viewed posts on my blog have been. I never would have expected the top articles to be of such comparatively greater interest than some of the ones that I thought would have been more viewed.
It’s very intriguing to me that the following have been the top 5 most viewed posts on my blog:
1. Nine Reasons Why Solomon Did Not Perish Eternally
2. The Autobiography of Dr. Frank Watson Garlock
3. Striking Parallels between Jesus and Stephen
4. Christian Health/Fitness Quotes I
5. The “Problem” of Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-Happuch?
The stats below for the top 25 all-time most viewed posts show that there have not been all that many people who have viewed what I have posted over the past nearly 4 or so years since I started keeping track of the views on my blog. Even so, I am thankful for those who have profited from what I have shared!
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Using the Summaries capabilities of Jetpack to determine the posts/pages on my blog/website with 100 or more views since February 2013 is quite revealing. Apparently, at least over the past 14 months, items related to music are of the most interest overall.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Today, I had an animated exchange with another believer concerning whether a proven history of being immoral should disqualify a political candidate. I believe that it should and disagree with the notion that goes something like this: “I’m voting for a president, not a preacher.”
I’m interested in hearing and learning from the views of other believers on this important question, both pro and con.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
I recently came up with a variation of the game Rummikub that I call Speed-Kub. This variation takes far less time to play, making it ideal for playing at times when you know that you will not have time to play the regular game.
Speed-Kub has only three simple rule changes, making it an easy variation to play:
–Each player starts with 10 tiles (instead of 14).
–To start playing, a player needs to lay out one or more sets (a group or a run of two or more tiles) totaling at least 20 points (instead of one or more sets of three or more tiles totalling at least 30 points).
–On any turn, a player can make groups or runs of just two tiles (instead of having to make groups or runs of at least three tiles each).
These changes make the game go much faster and also make Speed-Kub a good variation to play with younger players!
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
If the Lord wills, I hope to publish two books in the next 1-2 years:
Christ as God’s Judicial Agent: An Important Element of Apostolic Doctrine and Practice — Summer/Fall 2012; A heavily revised and expanded version of my dissertation
A People for His Name: Profiting Fully From Gentecost — Spring 2013; A thorough treatment of the accounts of Gentecost, the premier evangelistic encounter in Scripture concerning Gentiles
As God directs, if you are a regular reader of this blog, I would appreciate your praying with me and for me that I would be able to produce these resources in a timely manner and that they would be greatly used to advance the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Rajesh Gandhi holds a Ph.D. in New Testament Interpretation from Bob Jones Seminary; he's a long-time member of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, SC.
