The Great (New Year) Annual Examen / THC Gummy Bears / Did Teachers Expire with the First-Century Miraculous Gifts? / Jesus in the Apocalypse

Author

Douglas Jacoby
January 01, 2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! The entire world—in all 24 time zones—has rung in the new year. We share in the anticipation and excitement—not just for one day, but for our entire life in Christ, every day. In our first issue of 2025:

  • The Great Annual Examen (Stephen Smith)

  • A guest article on THC Gummy Bears

  • Jesus in the Apocalypse (new Sunday series)

  • 2025 Engagements

If you’re enjoying the newsletter, please let your friends know! Our aim is that each issue will make us think about faith.

THANK YOU!

We would also like to thank all our regular and special donors, who really came through for us this year. We’re thrilled and humbled by your overflowing generosity. Because of you, we closed 2024 strong, and are well positioned to assist in the training of biblical teachers, the teaching of churches, and sharing the gospel with non-Christians worldwide.

We’re grateful for your gracious support.

Click on the image

Comments by Jim Long (31/12/2024)

I hope this message finds you well as we approach the end of the year. I wanted to share something called The Great Annual Examen, by Stephen W. Smith, which I believe could be meaningful for you personally and perhaps for those in your ministry.

You may already have a process for reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to the new one, but this examen caught my attention with its perspective:

“This is not about resolutions. It is about revelations. This is about awakening to what God has been doing—what God has been up to in your life.”

A NEW YEAR!

Did you know that the English commemorated the new year on March 25th—until 1752? Or that the ancient Israelites had in effect two new years days? What about new years resolutions—are they biblical? For a 10-minute talk on New Year’s Day—historically and globally—please click here.

DID TEACHERS EXPIRE WITH THE APOSTLES AND FIRST-CENTURY MIRACULOUS GIFTS?

Q: I recently heard that teachers are no longer necessary—only elders and evangelists—and that teaching was a first-century miraculous gift. Their purpose was to write down the NT, and this function expired with all the miraculous gifts. What do you say?

A: Perhaps this is because in Eph 4:11 one phrase may be translated “teaching shepherds” (the elders do the teaching), or because 1 Cor 14:28 groups teachers with apostles and prophets (in a list of predominantly supernatural gifts). Maybe so. Yet this seems to be an effort to minimize or even silence dissent—and those who may see what others do not. KEEP READING

MAIN 2025 ENGAGEMENTS

Jan-Sept: New Zoom series: Jesus in the Apocalypse
Jan: Athens Institute (online), 8x in 2025
Jan: York, UK: Fellowship visit
Feb: Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University: fellowship visit
Feb: Teleios Conference, at ACU
Feb-Dec: Resiliency Training
Feb-Mar: Atlanta Braves Senior Staff (26 Feb, 26 Mar…)
Mar: AIM UK-Ireland (also June, September, December)
Mar: Cambridge, UK: Women’s Day
Apr: Edinburgh, UK: Palm Sunday message
Apr: Durham University, UK: fellowship visit
May: Geneva, Switzerland: teaching weekend
June: Izmir, Turkey: Global Smyrna Meeting
June: Istanbul, Turkey: Nicaea 1700th Anniversary Conference
July: London (North): Sunday sermon: “United with God”
Oct: Asia iFaith trip
Nov: Los Angeles, CA: teaching weekend (Santa Clarita)
Nov: Boston, MA: Four academic conferences
Dec: Bujumbura, Burundi & Nairobi, Kenya: teaching trip

THC GUMMIES AND CHILDREN

A five-year-old Colorado girl ate some gummy bears that contained THC. Recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado and many other states, and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol ) is the psychoactive drug from cannabis. Edible THC products include candy and cookies, which are attractive to children. In this case, the parents and doctors could not awaken the girl, and she remained unconscious for 16 hours.

Hospital-reported cases of THC exposure in children under the age of six increased more than 1,000 percent between 2017 and 2021. About a third of the children were treated and released, but 15% required hospital admission, and 8% were sent to intensive care. THC is concentrated in the candy, cookies, or brownies, and it remains in body fat for several days. There is no antidote for THC poisoning and no reversal agent or special treatment.

In the Colorado case, the family had no marijuana or cannabis in their home, and they did not know she had eaten the THC-laced gummy candy. They had been on a camping trip where other campers had given the gummies to the girl. This is a new concern for parents and a problem that will grow. The marijuana industry has no supervision or control, and cities that have opted to allow unrestricted marijuana distribution are going to see increasing problems as kids find products that give them a drug high.

Used with permission from John C. Clayton of Does God Exist? Reference: Discover, May/June 2024, 20.

JESUS IN THE APOCALYPSE

Our Sunday online communion services are about to enter their fifth year. "Zoomunion" offers 100s of video reflections, all segueing into the Lord's Supper. We are regularly joined by brothers and sisters from Canada, the Caribbean, Italy, the UK, and the US.

The next series begins next weekend (12 Jan), and focuses on how Jesus is portrayed in the book of Revelation (also called the Apocalypse).

Free free to join any time. We meet at 7pm UK time (normally 2pm ET). Log on here.

UPCOMING

Thanks for reading our bulletin. Next week:

  • More “Moments I Wish I Could Take Back”

  • “Widening Grace”—has God lowered his standards in sexual ethics?

  • Resiliency training   

  • Turkey: two tours in 2025 — free for (some of) our newsletter recipients.

May the Lord bless your 2025!
Douglas