Some Miracles of the Old Testament

1. The Multiplication of Languages (Babel) Gen 11:7-9
2.  Certain Sodomites Smitten With Blindness (Sodom) Gen 19:11
3.  Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah  Gen 19:24-25
4.  Lot's Wife Turned into a Pillar of Salt (Road from Sodom) Gen 19:26
5. The Burning Bush Not Consumed (Horeb) Ex: 3:2
6. Moses' Rod Transformed into a Serpent (Horeb) Ex 4:2-5
7. Moses' Hand Made Leprous and Healed (Horeb) Ex 4:6-7
8. The Ten Plagues (Egypt) Ex 7:12
9. The Pillar of Cloud by Day and of Fire by Night (near Egypt) Ex 13:20-22
10. The Red Sea Divided, and Returned to Its Channel (near Egypt) Ex 14:21-30
11. Water Brought from the Rock (Horeb and Meribah) Ex 17:5-7, 8-16
12. Aaron's Rod Buds, Blossoms and Dears Almonds (Kadesh) Num 17:1-13
13. The Jordan Divided (River of Jordan) Josh 3:14-17
14. The Walls of Jericho Fall (Jericho) Josh 6:6-20
15. The Sun and Moon Stand Still (Gibeon) Josh 10:12-13
16. Dagon and Many Philistines Fall Before the Ark (Ashdod) 1 Sam 5
17. The Chariot of Fire Takes Elijah to Heaven (Near Jordan) II Kings 2:11
18. The Waters of Jericho Made Fit to Drink (Jericho) II Kings 2:19-22
19. The Widow's Oil Multiplied (II Kings 4:1-7
20. The Sun Made to Go Back (Jerusalem) II Kings 20:9-11
21. Saved in the Fiery Furnace (Babylon Dan 3:19-27
22. Daniel Saved from Lions (Babylon Dan 6:16-23
23. Jonah in the Whale's Belly (Mediterranean) Jon 1:17
24. The Syrian Army Put to Flight (Samaria) II Kings 7:6-7

Solomon the Wise, Solomon the Vile

Solomon was the son of David.  He was wise.  When God asked him "What would you like me to give you?" Solomon answered that he wanted more wisdom.  God was so please that He said "Because you have asked for the wisdom to rule justly instead of long life... or riches... or death of your enemies...I will give you more wisdom and understanding than anyone ever had..."

So Solomon was the wisest man on earth.  (1 Kings 3:9 onwards).  But not for too long.

Sadly, despite all his wisdom, Solomon stopped obeying God.   1 Kings chapter 11 says that Solomon started to marry pagan wives who turned his heart to their pagan gods.  In fact he had a thousand wives, mostly pagan ones. 

Sigh! When the wisest man turned away from God, he was no longer wise. 
Refer to http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/1111.htm

Christianity is not a religion about human wisdom.  Other religions produce wiser human beings than Christianity.  For example, Buddhism could provide logical answers to many questions on worldly problems.

Christianity is a religion of our relationship with God.  With regards to eternal life, having more or having less wisdom is not an issue.

The grace of God is sufficient for all.  We only need to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross; that He rose again on the third day; and that He ascended to heaven after 40 days in the presence of hundreds of witnesses.

I believe.  This is enough.

  

Lessons From the 11th Century Crusades

 

Christianity started in 30 AD when Jesus started His ministry.  Through the evangelistic effort of the early disciples, Christianity spread quickly for the next few hundred years through persuasion, cohesion or conquest.

 

Islam started around 620 AD, Also through evangelistic effort by early believers, Islam spread to many areas including those already entrenched with Christianity.  The spread of Islam was also through persuasion, cohesion and conquest.
 

The collision and rivalry between these 2 religions had resulted in the famous or infamous Crusades when advocates of both religions fought and died.  There were 9 main Crusades and many smaller Crusades.  Read more about them in Wikipedia.
 

Finally the Crusades ended.  Both sides realized the futility of fighting and the idea of 'Dying for your religion results in great honour and reward in Heaven'.
 

The ending of the Crusades resulted in the Ottoman Empire and a Middle Eastern region that is predominantly Islamic, even though this region was originally evangelized successfully by the Christian apostles and disciples.
 

TODAY, I am sad to note that some renegade groups are now conquering regions of Syria and Iraq and committing heinous acts like beheading, rape and torture, to force the people there to adopt their kind of so-called religious beliefs.
 

But the civilized world had learnt its lesson from the futility of military Crusades fought during the 11th to 13th century.  The civilized world is a world of religious freedom. The civilized world would not wage religious wars anymore.
 

Hence, there is now seemingly no effective solution on how the civilized society could counter uncivilized militant group behavior.  What manner of 'crusade' will eliminate this scourge?