Good Morning All and Welcome to August!
Congratulations go out to our Sovereign Prince, Bro. Russell Combs, 32° MSA for a fantastic Valley Family Picnic this past Saturday! Great job Russ!
Our High Priest and Sovereign Prince-in waiting, Ill. Harry Rutter,33° has already booked next year's Picnic with the folks at the Canstatter. The date will be Saturday, 30 July. Hmm. That date seems familiar to me for some reason???
So, what's next up for the Valley of Philadelphia? Why our Fall Reunion of course!
No Reunion can start without Degrees being selected and Casts assigned and rituals being sent out. Done. Well, almost done. We still have to have the Cast Kick Off meeting for the 4°. As soon as our Degree Master, Bro.Brian Skoff , 32° gets his date to me for that event, I will send a letter out to the members of our Spring Class to encourage them to take part in this project.
Now as you know in recent years we've given the 4° to our newest members as an opportunity for them to jump right in and get their feet wet so to speak in our Degrees. But, if you've been a member for a number of years and have thought about getting involved but haven't had the time, were shy or just didn't know why you didn't, you too are welcome to attend the Kick Off and take part in the 4° Cast. We'll make room for you!
Our Fall Reunion begins on Friday, 16 October. That evening we will present the aforementioned 4°, along with the 14° and the for the very first time in the Valley of Philadelphia, the new ritual of the 31°.
Our Thrice Potent Master, Bro. Douglass Hocker, 32° and the other Officers, including all the new Guards appointed following the Officer's Conference, will present the 14°, which is back as part of our 'Traditional' Fall Reunion plan.
The new 31°, 'My Brother's Keeper' will be presented by a team of Valley Brethren who are also members of Thomson Lodge No. 340. Thank you to Bro. Frank J Lorine, 32° who stepped up to volunteer to recruit a Cast from his Lodge and to serve as Degree Master for this Degree.
Bro. Frank tells me our Thomson Brethren are very excited about performing the Degree and representing their Lodge. Well, we're excited too to see this first time conferral of a new Scottish Rite ritual!
If you have a number of Valley of Philadelphia Brethren in your Lodge and are interested in putting a Cast together for a future Degree conferral. Let us know. As of right now, we have requests from Lodges No. 51, 67, 115 and Lodge No. 506 is eager to return for another run. Please note that the ONLY Degrees that will not be Lodge Casted are the 4°, 14°, 18° and 32°.
For your calendar: The Fall Reunion will continue on Friday, 20 November with the conferrals of the 15° and 18° and conclude on Friday, 18 December with the presentation of the 32° only. BUT, that will be a BIG evening! As our Fall Class is named in honor of our Veteran Members of the Valley of Philadelphia, our Commander-in-Chief, Ill. Clay Melson, 33° MSA has arranged for 2015 Miss Philadelphia, Julie Rae Schluchter to be present that evening. She will sing the National Anthem and 'God Bless America' to honor our Veterans and Nation. She will be backed by a USAF Color Guard. Miss Schluchter will be the special guest for the Ladies Program while we're up in Gothic Hall for the 32° conferral.
Following the close of the Consistory, everyone, and that means Ladies and Brethren will be invited to Corinthian Hall to hear an address in honor of our Veterans, by Brother and General Wesley Craig, U.S. Army (Retired).
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! Yes, there is. Our Valley's Holiday Party happens on Saturday, 28 November at the Lazaretto Ballroom in Essington. Anyone who went last year will tell you that they had a great time and no doubt we will again this year. Watch the next issue of THE DOUBLE EAGLE for a ticket order form or you can download one RIGHT NOW by visiting: http://www.philascottishrite.org/announcements.html
Shhh. I shouldn't say this, but as you're all Brethren and Valley Ladies, I'm feeling a level of trust here: Our Commander-in-Chief, has sworn me to secrecy, but he has a REALLY BIG AND VERY EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT that he will be allowing me to share with you very soon. Stay tuned to this blog, the Valley Website and THE DOUBLE EAGLE for more information. I can tell you this much, you'll read about it here first.
Well that'll fill you up for now. Have a great Monday everyone and an even better week ahead!
DID THE 1ST CENTURY CHURCH HAVE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES? BY STEVE FINNELL
ReplyDeleteThe prevailing thought of many is that since the Bible was not canonized until sometime between 300 and 400 A.D. that the church of Christ did not have New Covenant Scriptures as their guide for faith and practice. That is simply factually incorrect.
The Lord's church of the first 400 years did not rely on the man-made traditions of men for New Testament guidance.
Jesus gave the terms for pardon 33 A.D. after His death and resurrecting. (Mark 16:16) All the words of Jesus were Scripture.Jesus did not have to wait for canonization of the New Testament in order for His word to be authorized.
The terms for pardon were repeated by the apostle Peter 33 A.D. on the Day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:22-42) The teachings of the apostles were Scripture. The words of the apostles were Scripture before they were canonized.
The apostle Peter said the apostle Paul's words were Scripture. (2 Peter 3:15-16...just as also our beloved brother Paul , according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand,which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures...
The apostle Paul's letters and words were Scriptures when he wrote and spoke them. Paul did not have to wait for canonization to authorize his doctrine.
John 14:25-26 'These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to you remembrance all that I said to you.
The words and writings of the apostles were Scripture and they did not have to wait for canonization to be deemed authoritative. The apostle did not use man-made creed books of the church or man-made oral traditions to teach the gospel of the New Covenant.
Did the early church have written New testament Scriptures? Yes, and they were shared among the different congregations. (Colossians 4:16 When the letter is read among you, have it read in the church of the Laodiceans and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodica.) Paul's letters were Scripture and they were read in different churches.
They were New Testament Scriptures long before they were canonized.
WRITTEN
Matthew A.D. 70
Mark A.D. 55
Luke between A.D. 59 and 63
John A.D. 85
Acts A.D. 63
Romans A.D. 57
1 Corinthians A.D. 55
2 Corinthians A.D. 55
Galatians A.D. 50
Ephesians A.D. 60
Philippians A.D. 61
Colossians A. D. 60
1 Thessalonians A.D. 51
2 Thessalonians A.D. 51 or 52
1 Timothy A.D. 64
2 Timothy A.D. 66
Titus A.D. 64
Philemon A.D. 64
Hebrews A.D. 70
James A.D. 50
1 Peter A.D. 64
2 Peter A.D. 66
1 John A.D. 90
2 John A.d. 90
3 John A.D. 90
Jude A.D. 65
Revelation A.D. 95
All 27 books of the New Testament were Scripture when they were written. They did not have wait until they were canonized before they became God's word to mankind.
Jesus told the eleven disciples make disciples and teach them all that He commanded. (Matthew 28:16-19) That was A.D. 33, They were teaching New Covenant Scripture from A.D. 33 forward. The apostles did not wait to preach the gospel until canonization occurred 300 to 400 years later.
THE WORDS OF JESUS AND THE APOSTLES WERE SCRIPTURE WHEN THEY WERE SPOKEN AND WRITTEN. THEY DID NOT HAVE TO WAIT FOR CANONIZATION TO BE THE AUTHORIZED WORD OF GOD.
MAN-MADE CREED BOOKS AND MAN-MADE ORAL TRADITION WAS AND IS NOT SCRIPTURE.
AS A MATTER OF FACT! When God said "Let Us make man in Our image, (Genesis 1:27) it was God's Word. God's creation of man was true before it was canonized 4450 years later. The book of Genesis was Scripture the moment it was written. Man-Made oral tradition was not, nor will it ever be Scripture.
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG. http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com
Posted by Steve Finnell at 2:37 PM 1 comment:
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