“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20) has two layers of meaning. First, Jesus is blessing the Ebionites (πτωχοί, ebionim/poor), the earliest vegan followers of Him. Second, disconnected from God, we can achieve very little. 1. “The poor”=Ebionim=Ebionite Concerning the first layer of meaning, the “poor” whom Jesus blesses (πτωχοί) are best understood not merely as the economically deprived, but as the ’ebionim (אביונים)

“Do you have eyes but fail to see?” (Mark 8:18), questions Jesus. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light” (Matt 6:22), Jesus reassures us. He’s hereby urging us to see through distortions, delusions and illusions by “the true light” (John 1:9). 1. The World is An Illusion Projected by the Kingdom Within Jesus makes it clear that “I am not of this world” (John 8:23); that “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny the

Summary: In Genesis, upon consuming the forbidden "fruit" (Gen 3:6) from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen 2:9), “which is in the midst of the garden” (Gen 3:3 KJV), Adam and Eve were deported from the Garden of Eden and they went from immortal to mortal. By examining the Hebrew original of the words concerned and their context, this article, inspired by Jeff Popick (2007) and Jane Erwin (2010), argues that the forbidden fruit of Eden is meat; that the origin

My dear brothers and sisters… Welcome back. Today, I invite you to slow down…just for a moment… Take a deep breath with me… (inhale)…and exhale. Let go of control… just for this moment. Today, we are reflecting on a sacred truth: Miracles do not happen when we force life…they happen when we surrender to God. 1. The Illusion of Control So many of us… are trying to control everything. We want to control outcomes…people…timing… Even God’s plan. But Jesus Christ teaches us somet